Winter chill forgotten as red hot Harrogate tame the Lions

Any sort of rugby would have been welcome after a three-week weather break but this high-quality match would have thrilled anybody under any circumstances.

A combination of attacking brilliance from the backs and gritty defence from the forwards gave Harrogate a deserved victory over high-flying Leicester Lions.

Wave after wave of attacking rugby rocked the Lions backwards from the start.

The first 10 minutes were all played in the Leicester half with Harrogate stand-off, Mike Aspinall, orchestrating the onslaught.

The pressure had to tell and a clever switch of play gave Harrogate a clear overlap on the right. Crisp passing gave winger James Rothwell enough space to cruise through for an excellent try, Aspinall converting.

The much-vaunted Lions attack then tried to bring Leicester back into the game. Their star full-back Gareth Collins made an early scintillating break but Harrogate's gameplan had included tactics for coping with him and he was largely ineffective thereafter.

However, the Lions clearly showed that their excellent record was not a fluke and a more even period of play followed with both sides testing each other out.

Harrogate then mounted a counter-attack and Leicester went offside in defence to give Aspinall another three points.

Harrogate centre Kyle Dench then had to retire with a nasty cut and was replace by Dickie Davies. The tight set-pieces were being evenly contested but the Harrogate front five then shocked Leicester by pushing them off their own ball to gain a vital turnover and relieve the pressure.

The Lions continued to try to mount pressure and a Harrogate offside offence conceded a penalty which was successfully kicked by Jon Boden.

Harrogate then lost a vital defensive line-out but regained possession in midfield to try and mount a counter-attack from deep. However a bad knock-on gave the Lions an attacking scrum which led to a driving maul and home hooker Junior Fagalilo drove over to score with Boden's conversion making it 10-10 at half-time.

Leicester had a slight wind advantage from the resumption and an early Boden penalty gave them a three-point advantage. They put everything into increasing this lead and mounted a sustained 10-minute period of driving mauls on the Harrogate goal-line.

Showing enormous character, the Harrogate pack held them out. All the individual forwards defended doggedly and this led to an absolutely outstanding collective effort. The Lions were eventually penalised for not releasing and a Harrogate line kick relieved the pressure.

Harrogate regained some ascendency and set up an attacking lineout which led to an excellent driving maul and flanker Alex Rieder scored followed by a good Aspinall conversion with two minutes of normal time remaining.

Huddersfield 35

Hull Ionians 5

Second-ROW forward Lee Brown scored his first tries for Huddersfield, his enjoyment made even sweeter because they came against his former side.

Brown's two late tries not only clinched a bonus point for Huddersfield, taking them level on points with Ionians, but their improved points difference took them above their Yorkshire rivals in the table.

With all the recent inactivity because of the snow, it took Huddersfield a few minutes to settle into the game but once they found their rhythm, they always looked likely to come out on top of this local encounter.

Chris Johnson put them on their way after 13 minutes, crossing for his ninth try of the season and also adding the first of five successful conversions.

Five minutes before the break, captain Nick Sharp, starting off at flanker before a second-half shift at No 8, doubled his side's advantage.

Both sides were down to 14 with a man in the bin and Huddersfield looked more likely to take further advantage but instead, Ionians grabbed their solitary score of the afternoon, centre Samuel Wilson going in for an unconverted try.

Huddersfield reinforced their grip on the game in the second half, keeping possession and carving out the better opportunities.

Winger James Wood made it 21-5 and that was the signal for Brown to stamp himself on the game.

Having had few chances at Ionians, Brown switched to Huddersfield this season.

He forced his way into the team but until now had not managed to get his name on the scoresheet.

That all changed when he took an excellent position on the shoulder of the ball carrier in a breakaway and then hold on to the pass before motoring away to touch down.

And with three minutes to go, Brown popped up again to score Huddersfield's final try and round off a convincing win.

The Yorkshire Cup first-round match, scheduled for Saturday, between National Three North rivals Hull and Morley was postponed because of the weather.

That was the last of the first-round ties to be decided and a new date will be set.

The teams already through to the quarter-final stage are holders Wharfedale – after a victory over Otley that doubled up as a National 1 encounter – Beverley, Cleckheaton, Old Brodleians, Middlesbrough, Huddersfield and Wheatley Hills – who accounted for last season's beaten finalists Sheffield Tigers.

The Yorkshire Silver Trophy match between Burley and Old Otliensians was also postponed.

The next round of matches in the Silver Trophy, plus the one remaining second-round tie in the Yorkshire Shield, are scheduled for February 12.