On a soft Stourton Park surface Stour demonstrated their intent from the start by moving the ball wide at pace. Harrogate contained the attacks but conceded penalties under pressure, enabling Stour outside-half Rod Petty to strike twice from the kicking tee to establish a 6-0 lead. With Stour’s scrum driving the Harrogate pack backwards the visitors found themselves kicking away what little possession they could secure, the pressure finally told when a dummy by veteran scrum half Toby Handley opened up a huge gap in the fringe defences that he breezed through to score the opening try. 18min 13-0.

Harrogate fullback Lewis Minikin struck back with a penalty but with Stour’s dominant pack camped in their 22 what little possession came their way was through the handling errors that crept into Stour’s game. Harrogate continued to transgress in defence, referee Will Halford eventually losing patience and despatching flanker Tom Harvey to the sin bin for cynically pulling down a maul. Stour opted to scrum and the visitors’ depleted defences shipped another try when the ball was moved wide to winger Josh Trinham after a set of short-range drives. Halftime 18-3.

Chris Scott had replaced winger Ash Elvers and took the outside-half slot after the break, Rod Petty dropping to fullback and Joe Bridger to the wing. An early break by centre Joe Heatley set up a set of short-range forward drives in the Harrogate 22, colleague James Otutaha’s direct run at the defence rewarded when he barged over the line to put a 4 try bonus point within Stour’s grasp. 42min 23-3.

Stung into action Harrogate started to string some phases together and picked up confidence, threatening but unable to cross Stour’s tryline as the hosts’ defensive structures held firm. Stour briefly broke out with a tap penalty from under their posts, but the opportunity passed in Harrogate’s 22 with the ball lost in contact. The pattern was set, Stour taking the attacking options but as the conditions deteriorated disappointingly unable to hold on to the ball long enough to mount any sustained pressure. The benches started to empty and a sinbinning for a dangerous tackle by replacement Connor Nicholls left Stour short-handed, eventually to ship a well-worked try for Harrogate winger Luke Edwards. The game ended with both sides throwing the ball around in the mud chasing bonus points, Harrogate denied at the death by an excellent cover tackle by Handley. Full time 23-10.

Next week Jan 23rd Stour make the long trip to Preston Grasshoppers looking to avenge a narrow early season reversal. Their next game at Stourton Park will be on Jan 30th against Leicester Lions, 3pm ko.