Lough, stock and smoking Hoppers...

What had looked to be a routine victory nearly turned sour as Hoppers let their opponents back into the game and it was only a late try from Michael Lough which secured the victory.

Hoppers started brightly with a fourth minute try from Chris Glynn, the result of their first threequarter movement and Martin Emmett converted from near touch to give his side a dream start.

Harrogate hit back quickly with a try from Caldwell, converted by Duncombe, putting them level.

And when Hoppers were caught offside, Duncombe's penalty gave his side the lead.

Hoppers refused to be unnerved by the setback and quickly established territorial superiority. Line-out routines have been a fruitful source of points this season and Saturday proved to be no exception. Jason Brittin was the try scorer and, although Emmett could not convert, Hoppers were back in front.

Harrogate struggled to break Hoppers' stranglehold and it was just reward when an Emmett penalty increased Hoppers' lead.

They opened the second half brightly and although the backs appeared to have wasted an overlap, possession was retained.

Michael Bailey's outrageous dummy opened up the home defence to allow the lock to score under the posts.

Emmett converted and when he quickly added a penalty Hoppers looked home and dry.

Harrogate thought otherwise, with tries from Faulkner and Caldwell and a Duncombe conversion bringing them within three points of Hoppers with ten minutes on the clock.

That was as good as it got for them, with Hoppers soon back in Harrogate territory.

Lough's late solo effort, converted by Glynn, scaled victory and put Hoppers in the third round draw.

On Saturday, Hoppers return to league action with a trip to promotion contenders Birmingham Solihull. They have also drawn Solihull's neighbours, Rugby, in the third round of the Tetley Bitter Cup.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.