Harborough masterclass as they run in 12 tries for a 74-7 victory

The conditions may have been far from ideal but Harborough produced a stunning performance to run in 12 tries against Stewarts and Lloyds and maintain their push for promotion.

The conditions may have been far from ideal but Harborough produced a stunning performance to run in 12 tries against Stewarts and Lloyds and maintain their push for promotion. They were dominant from the start but it was 15 minutes before they managed their first score when the pace of Laurence Joel proved too much for the visitors and he touched down and added the conversion to give Harborough a 7-0 lead. The score was doubled on the half hour when a tap penalty from Harvey Slade once again released Joel and when he was held up the ball came back to Brian Atwiine who used his strength to power through the defence and touch down, Joel adding the extras. Harborough were now in the ascendancy and 2 more tries came before half-time, the first through Ed Parker and the second by Fin Clarke for the bonus point try and a 24-0 half time lead. The second half started with pressure from S&L who were determined to fight back but Harborough are capable of running from deep and pressure from Harborough in the scrum saw quick ball to Slade who fed Ed Sumpter running a superb line to break the defence and when he was held up Slade was on hand to take the pass and release Parker for his second try. From the kick off it was the turn of the forwards to get in on the act or at least the rampaging Tim Brown who collected the ball on his 10 metre line and after powering through the advancing S&L forwards he then outpaced the backs to touch down under the posts and with Joel converting Harborough were 36-0 in the lead. This became 43-0 after Atwiine and Ethan Godefroy made excellent ground, the ball became loose and Timmy Waterfield was on hand to hack through and take advantage of a defensive error to touch down. Harborough were now trying to run from everywhere but the next score came from S&L when their prop intercepted a wild pass to run in from 20 metres and give S&L a deserved consolation score. Harborough however were far from finished with the pack dominant with power provided by Jack Digby, Michael Woodford, Atwiine and Godefroy. This ensured the backs had space and a further 31 points were added with tries from a fine individual effort from Adam Blatchly, the strength of Ed Sumpter, try machine, Stefan Ziemelis and a further brace from Parker taking his total to 4 for the match. Joel added 3 conversions for 17 points in the game and help Harborough to an overwhelming victory by 74-7. After the game Director of Rugby, David Nance, said this was an excellent display of running rugby from an exciting young team but there will be tougher games to come and the squad must continue to work hard in training to ensure that the victories continue.