Sandal RUFC blown away by in-form Harrogate in tough conditions

A stiff wind made the conditions challenging and it felt that whoever got the rub of the green of the wind would have an advantage, writes Justin English.

Sandal started well with the early exchanges and took the game to Harrogate, but fell unlucky with a loose ball and a breakaway try from the home team.

Harrogate pressed their home advantage and played some good offload rugby to effectively dominate the most areas of the park.

Their left winger and outside centre combined on a number of occasions to pull Sandal apart on the flank and it was this edge where the most amount of damage was done as the promotion chasers went on to run out 61-14 winners.

Sandal did have their moments, notably when a superb break from Dec Thompson in the 27th minute saw him pop a short pass to Will Henshall who got the team off the mark.

However, an injury to George Hulme saw Sandal have to reshuffle their structure.

Taking advantage of the wind and good kicking from Hali Joannou kept Sandal in the game, but they went into half-time 33-7 down with a lot to do in the second half.

The half did not start as they would have liked with a Harrogate going over for another try in the first three minutes to stretch their lead further.

There were sparks of life with a great show and go from Joannou who broke the line and danced his way over for a fine try.

Good runs from Archie Milner and Ibrahim Shamchiyev showed what Sandal had in their locker. But Harrogate were simply too strong and kicked well to get out of trouble, making the conditions work for them, and they snuffed out any chance of a Sandal comeback.

Sandal should be disappointed to not come away with something from the game, but credit must be given to a very competitive Harrogate side.

There is no game this weekend before the final league game of the season sees the men from Milnthorpe Green at home to Driffield on Saturday, April 11.