THEY may have played more than half of the match with 14 men, but Lymm came away from Harrogate thinking they should left with more than a losing bonus point.

Tom Bray’s red card on the half-hour mark but the visitors up against it and at 14-6 down, it looked like being a long afternoon.

However, their defence held firm and with Nathan Beesley’s try, an unlikely victory was on the cards.

It never materialised as Harrogate held on for a 14-11 victory, but visiting director of rugby Adam Fletcher was bursting with admiration for his players.

“I’m very proud of how the boys performed,” he said.

“We talked all week about the conditions at Harrogate, their strengths and staying in the fight.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t plan for staying in the fight with 14 men.

“The longer the game went on, the more confident we became and we actually looked more likely to win.

“Although we didn’t get the win, we can take so many positives from that performance.”

“There is no game next week and the boys are deservedly looking forward to the week off, before welcoming Carlisle to Beechwood on December 7.”

Lymm: Gav Woods, Cash Chilvers, James Mawdsley, Aaron Rasheed, Will Baldwin, Matty Connelly, James Lewis, Joe Watson; Cormac Nolan, Scott Redfern; Joe Senior, James Kimber, 13) Steve Pilkington, Nathan Beesley, Tom Bray. Subs: Matty Hand, Alex Hickman, Josh Hadland