Harborough's dogged defence and determination secures victory in their 2nd XV league fixture

Harborough seconds travelled to Belgrave knowing they would be in for a tough afternoon and so it proved with Belgrave fielding a bigger, more experienced team. Harborough are however well coached and had skill and determination amongst their largely young side and although Belgrave started the stronger it was Harborough who scored first. Having been initially starved of possession Harborough began to make inroads. Although going backwards in the scrum, Will Hallam at 8 was a revelation, picking up at the base to ensure Harborough secured their own ball and livewire, Gary Whitechurch soon got the backs moving. There were strong runs from centres Joel Nance and Henry Davies but it was the electric pace of Theo Haynes that was testing Belgrave the most. The forwards were also beginning to find their feet with Josh Jones and Nick Boxall prominent and the inevitable try came when Haynes received the ball wide out and touched down. The conversion was missed but Harborough were now in the ascendancy and Ben Lawniczak showed strength and pace to pick a great line and drive through from 10 metres out and although tackled he was able to stretch and touch down near the posts. Davis duly converted to put Harborough 12-0 in the lead. Belgrave then upped their game with their number 7 prominent and although Harborough’s defence was strong, they eventually found a gap in the new look Harborough back line and touched down beneath the posts on the stoke of half time. With the conversion the score was 12-7 to Harborough at the half way mark. Whatever was said at half time worked for Belgrave as they started the second half by far the stronger pinning Harborough back in their 22 and it was not long before they had scored 2 tries, one converted to lead 19-12. Although they had lost a man to the sin bin and another two to injury, Harborough, under Rob Campbell’s leadership, dug deep, with determined defence refusing to buckle and Belgrave’s frustration grew as the game progressed. Harborough were also turning the tables in the tight as Belgrave lost a couple of their big pack to injury and it was Harborough who were now dominant. Substitute, Charlie Beard, was making his presence felt with big hits and it was his clever little grubber kick that brought Harborough back into the game as Belgrave were slow to secure the ball and Adrian Luke B raced through to touch down but with the conversion missed Belgrave were still 2 points to the good with time running out. Then on the stroke of full time Harborough secured a penalty but it was long range and Davis’s kick fell just short. Remarkably instead of kicking the ball dead Belgrave drove forward only to concede a second penalty that Davis duly kicked to give Harborough a hard fought victory by 20-19. The determination of the whole team was something to be proud of and the squad is clearly starting to enjoy their rugby.