Harborough 2nds travelled to Leicester Forest for their opening cup game and in a game littered with penalties entertained the crowd with some exhilarating play from their back line. Harborough started strongly and within a few minutes they were 3-0 up through a penalty by Nick Airey. What followed in the next 20 minutes was even better as the Harborough backs ran riot despite some early season rustiness and a number playing their first match. It started with Charley Standley fielding a poor clearance and scything through the Forest defence before releasing Jack Williams for a try wide out. Within a few minutes Standley was at it again this time picking out Fergus Clarke who ran an excellent line to take the pass and score under the posts for Iain Barnett to convert. Standley capped what was a vintage performance by this time collecting a loose ball from halfway and evading despairing tackles to run in under the posts for a further try with Barnett duly converting. 22-0 to Harborough. Forest however had the upper hand up front, dominating the scrum line out and loose play. They capitalised on this by scoring a try themselves to reduce the arrears with less than 25 minutes on the clock. Harborough once again fought back and the ball got to Joel Nance in the centre who cut between the opposing centres to touch down under the posts for Barnett to convert. Forest were not yet finished however and scored a second try on the stroke of half time with the score 29- 10 to Harborough. The second half saw Forest relying heavily on their pack with the exchanges ever more abrasive. They took the game to Harborough and scored an early try and were on the attack again when the ball popped loose for Jamie Thorpe to pick up and race clear to touch down under the posts with Barnett converting. A period of Forest dominance followed that brought them 2 tries with one converted reducing the deficit to 36-27. Not to be outdone the Harborough backs once again showed their pace and skill with 3 tries through Standley, Thorpe and Fin Clarke. Forest managed to score a further try but Harborough finished in style with Fin Clarke once again showing that he has pace and strength to touch down for a try he converted himself to bring the final score to 58-32 in Harborough’s favour. An excellent start to their cup campaign with promising performances from a number of players.