Unfortunately, for the big Northampton Road crowd it was not the right result with Melton Mowbray edging victory in the last five minutes 15-25.

The omens were not good from the start as the bigger Melton pack dominated the scrum all afternoon which gave them a platform to maintain pressure on the home defence. They took an early five point lead following a very impressive driving maul. They kept up the pressure for long periods which meant Harborough had very little possession to try to gain any sort of foothold in the game.

As ever Harborough's defence remained solid and there was no further score until the thirty third minute. In a three minute spell Harborough turned the game on its head, scoring two tries. The first came from Jack Johnston who caught an overthrown lineout ball on the five metre line to touch down to level the scores at 5-5. Then Ed Parker ran seventy metres, chipping the ball over the last defender along the way, to score a second try against the run of play for an unlikely 10-5 score line. But Melton were immediately back on the offensive, scoring a second try from a driving maul to make the score 10-10 at half time.

Melton picked up where they left off, putting the Harborough try line under pressure from the very start of the second half. After less than a minute they converted a penalty to go back in the lead 10-13. Undaunted, Harborough went back into Melton territory to score a well taken try by Ed Sumpter who was brought down short of the line but he stretched out to touch down making the score 15-13.

Melton then had their combative number eight yellowed carded for his latest transgression. Harborough now began to believe they could win this match with captain, and man of the match, Joe Caunt leading the charge. They battled for every ball, spending more and more time in the visitors 22. Melton defended valiantly but lost their hooker to the bin for a transgression three metres out. After a series of penalties within five metres of the line, Harborough could not find a way through to extend their lead. Melton then showed why they are the league leaders by going down the pitch to score two tries in the last five minutes, the last one being a penalty try.

This was a heart breaking defeat but yet again this young Harborough team showed a lot of courage and determination to stay in a game where the odds were stacked against them. They must remain positive because they ran the league leaders close to the very end of the game. We need everyone at training on Wednesday as we prepare for the next big match against fourth placed Oadby Wyggs.