Harborough lose to last kick of the game

Not the best start to 2019 as Market Harborough lost 28-27 to Vipers with the final kick of the game.

A penalty in front of the posts deep in the 54th minute of the second half gave the hosts the victory they needed to take them out of the relegation zone. The narrow defeat means Harborough drop to third in the table but they crucially picked up 2 points to keep them in contention with 10 games to go.

Harborough scored first through a great team try that saw them work up the pitch through several phases with great offloads and interplay. Harry Durham rounded off the move with a great finish to score the try in the corner.

Unfortunately that was as good as it was going to get for Harborough. Despite scoring 3 more tries through Ed Parker, Adam Blatchley and Milkha Basra, plus a penalty and 2 conversions from Laurence Joel the visitors succumbed to a late comeback by their hosts. 2 tries by Vipers in the last quarter and a penalty in front of the posts with time up gave them the win despite it being the only time in the match that they were ahead.

Lots for Harborough to reflect on and some key areas to improve, including first up defence and the ability to win clean ball. The opposition 7 made several turnovers which starved Harborough from ball and prevented them from putting multiple phases together.

Onwards and upwards though! Once again the club fielded 3 senior teams with the 2nd XV winning against Cosby in the league by 50-26. Unfortunately the 3rd XV lost in their away fixture to Stewarts & Lloyds.