Field out of bottom three with victory
HUDDERSFIELD winger Kian Stewart produced a moment of magic to set the seal on a 23-7 win over Harrogate in National 2 North.
Field are now out of the bottom three after back-to-back wins at Lockwood Park.
With only 15 minutes left, Field held a slender four-point lead. Having recovered possession inside their own half, they set up a counter attack, retaining control through a few wellworked phases. The ball was passed to Stewart on the left flank, who set off on a mazy run.
Nimbly side-stepping his way past would-be tacklers, he cut a diagonal towards the posts, with only the Harrogate full-back left to beat. Having done the hard work, a deft pass put hooker Liam Stapley in for the simplest of tries, which was converted by Will Milner.
Harrogate had started the match strongly. They set up a series of attacking lineouts from penalties conceded by Field and used their formidable pack to try to drive over the line.
Huddersfield’s defence held firm, but when their Number 8, Eddie Brown, was yellow carded for collapsing a maul, Harrogate broke the deadlock as former Field player Declan Thompson dived over. Kit Keith converted.
On the half hour Huddersfield had the put-in at a scrum five metres from the Harrogate line. Brown launched full-back Tom Hodson, who cruised through the Harrogate defence for a try, which Milner failed to convert.
Just before half-time Harrogate were penalised for collapsing a maul. Milner landed a penalty from 45 metres to give field an 8-7 lead.
Field went further in front after the break when Harrogate were pulled up for coming into a defensive ruck from the side and Milner landed a simple penalty.
Then Stewart set the game alight with his brilliance.
Huddersfield finished the game in complete control, pinning Harrogate back inside their own 22.
When the visiting outside centre tried to run the ball out of defence, he met the solid form of his opposite number. Lewis Workman ripped the ball from his grasp, rolled out of the standing tackle and swallow dived over the line for the final try of the afternoon. Milner’s failed conversion attempt ended the match.
“Once again we made a slow start and made life difficult for ourselves. However, we grew into the game and began to create good phase play and started to build scoreboard pressure,” said head coach Gaz Lewis.