ONLY some gritty resolve by Wharfedale and Harrogate's profligacy near the line ensured that a mistake-ridden Yorkshire Cup semi-final at The Avenue on Tuesday went to the wire.

Harrogate had to wait until four minutes from time before full-back Ed Smithies collected a wide pass from fly-half Jon Cholewa to carve through a defence that had been damaged by a strong lineout drive and a powerful surge by replacement lock John Dudley.

Earlier wingman Mark Farrar twice spilled the ball in the process of crossing the line, Cholewa also knocked on in a similar position, and in another moment when he intercepted top break clear, he failed to link with the speedy James Tapster on the left flank when another try beckoned.

It also looked easier for Jamie Barker to score when he sliced through to within a few strides of the Wharfedale line, but full-back Andy Hodgson made full amends for an earlier lapse with a tremendous tackle to cut down the Harrogate centre in full flight.

In the final analysis, the Claro Road men closed with a two-to-one try count and in rescuing a 17-5 deficit, they arguably deserved their win.

The Dalesmen put themselves in a strong position at the interval thanks largely to the boot of Jonathan Davies, who despite not having occupied the fly-half berth for five years or so in serious rugby, did a passable job and kept the score-board ticking over.

He needed more time than was available to get a couple of his kicks away, but generally used the ball efficiently and was in decent form with the boot, landing four first-half penalties.

His successes put Wharfedale ahead after Farrar had profited from some flimsy tackling to score at the corner after 16 minutes.

Davies's contribution was supplemented by a try from No 8 Ben Wade, an industrious worker in the Greens cause who had an interesting tussle with his opposite number Oliver Cook. Centre Andy Baggett and Chris Malherbe did the spadework for the score in a good passage of support play, Wade arriving on cue to drive over and finish off the movement.

That score came a minute after prop Paul Gabriel was sin-binned for an offence at a ruck, but his departure did not influence affairs unduly, other than to remove spiky flanker Steve Hobson to the bench to allow Alistair Milne to take over front-row duties.

When Farrar spilled a difficult scoring pass on the stroke of half-time, the signs were encouraging for the Dalesmen, but three penalties by Cholewa hauled Harrogate back into contention and with the slope came the impetus to offer some fleeting glimpses of how the side has managed to finish so high in the National Two table.

They built up a powerful head of steam to test Wharfedale's defensive resolve, but their best work failed to produce results as mistakes and dogged resistance kept them at bay.

Wharfedale also had brief spells of pressure in the second-half, but they too were blighted by poor decision making and faulty handling at crucial moments.

Even so, the game ran a full course, with Wharfedale still managing to win positions in the Harrogate 22 during the seven minutes of injury time allowed.

There was no further scoring, however, and a game which carried all the hall-marks of two teams needing a break ended with the holders back in the final and 2-1 winners of the matches between the sides this season.

Genuine consolation for the Dalesmen comes from the fact that their victory in the series was the one that mattered most of all.

Wharfedale: A Hodgson; G Johnston, C Malherbe, A Baggett, A Lovatt (D Whitfield, 40); J Davies; P Peel (C Ingram, 40), J Ogden, N Dickinson, D Lister, O Renton, P Evans, H Verity, B Wade.

Harrogate: E Smithies; M Farrar (J Visser, 70), J Barker, G Sarjeant, J Tapster; L Cholewa, R Morgan; P Gabriel, M Erven, R Wilson, A Boyle, P Clark, M Worden (J Dudley, 60), S Hobson, O Cook. Referee: A Vertigan (Yorkshire Society).