LONDON 3 NORTH WEST

Grasshoppers 13

Harrow 17

HARROW produced a lesson in how to protect a lead as they finished 2013 unbeaten and top of London Three North West with a crucial victory over title rivals Grasshoppers.

The division’s top two clashed in what was a tight affair at MacFarlane Lane, but Harrow cleverly ran down the clock to hold on to their 17-13 advantage.

Harrow chairman Andy Smart said: “It was a masterclass in how to protect a lead and Grasshoppers, despite throwing everything into it, couldn’t get their hands on the ball.

“It was a massive result for the club built on a refusal to panic when under pressure and a refusal to accept defeat. Huge credit to the skipper and his team who just keep winning. Everybody stood up to be counted.”

It was a match that pitted arguably the two best players in the league against each other as Harrow’s player-coach Chris West took on Grasshoppers’ outside centre Chris Brown.

Grasshoppers started quicker and scored from an early penalty to race into a 3-0 lead but Christian Witney drilled in a response for the visitors soon after to level things up.

Down to 14, following Adam West’s stint in the sin bin, Harrow found themselves on the back foot and Brown showed his class to score a stunning individual try.

Harrow regained their composure and forced a five-metre scrummage and when Grasshoppers were penalised in the resulting drive, Derek Byrne’s drop-kick took the score to 10-6.

Witney kicked a penalty to the left of the posts to make it 10-9, but the game’s crucial moment came moments later to hand Harrow the initiative.

Brown embarked on a dizzying run down the left and was tackled hard by a covering Chris West, leaving the Grasshoppers star clutching his ribs and forcing him off injured.

It was a bitter blow for the hosts and they lost the lead as well as their star man before half-time as a long-range Witney penalty struck the bar and bounced over to make it 12-10.

Grasshoppers re-emerged from the dressing rooms with purpose and converted a penalty soon after the restart to restore their lead.

That would be their last score of the afternoon though, as Harrow took charge of the match, with the forwards in particular starting to boss the game.

Adam West, who was superb
on the day, got the decisive try with less than 15 minutes to go, driving through and touching down just before he was bundled into touch.

The conversion was missed but it did not matter in the end, as Harrow showed intelligence and game management to run down the clock and take the spoils.