Huddersfield showed Christmas is a time for giving by putting victory on a plate for hosts Harrogate in a National II North clash that could so easily have produced a completely different outcome.

A 29-13 final scoreline suggests it was relatively straightforward for the men from Claro Road.

But, in truth, it was far from it.

In the opening period, Huddersfield contributed significantly to their own downfall by making basic errors at critical times and then compounding those mistakes by failing to make one-on-one tackles when it really mattered.

And when their foe possesses some of the most dangerous backs in the competition that was simply asking for trouble.

Twice in a worrying first 40, Harrogate slipped out of tackles with ease to score two long-range tries from Luke Edwards and Barry Frost as they opened up a commanding 17-6 interval advantage, with Joe Rowntree adding both conversions and a penalty.

A five-minute Joel Hinchcliffe drop goal and then his penalty on the stroke of half-time did at least keep Huddersfield within striking distance – and it became even mine interesting at the start of the second half.

Even though the visitors were second best early on, they were proving a handful in the forwards – former Huddersfield and Yorkshire Carnegie Ben Harris’s special scrummaging session last week had clearly had a positive effect – they played to their new-found strength throughout the third quarter.

With their driving mauls causing the Harrogate pack all sorts of trouble, it was no surprise when Nick Rhodes got the vital touch through a crowd of bodies to score a try that signalled a brief brawl.

Chris Bell converted and it was 17-13.

And that lead was so nearly reduced on a number of further occasions, with Bell, Ben Hoyle and Charlie Martin all denied during their dominant spell.

However, the real turning point came in the 56th minute.

Winger Sam Bottomley was sin-binned as a result of the home side conceding penalty after penalty to keep their opponents at bay, and it looked as if Huddersfield had finally been handed the key to unlock an increasingly under-pressure Gate defence.

But with Bell failing to land the subsequent penalty after Bottomley had seen yellow, it was Harrogate who were handed a new lease of life.

Six minutes later, Danny Matthews nipped in at the corner before Frost capitalised on Callim Irvine’s neat grubber to get the simplest of touches.

All of sudden, the advantage was back up to 16 points and it was game over, particularly with player-coach Gareth Lewis forced to watch from the sidelines after being sin-binned for a harsh technical offence.

The added festive spice to a game that certainly wasn’t lacking in needle continued right to the end as Kerry Wood was also handed a yellow card with two minutes remaining.

But Wood had his teammates were at least able to have the last laugh after sealing a victory that 25 minutes earlier had looked far from certain.

Harrogate: Rowntree; Bottomley, Minkin, Frost, Edwards; Irvine, Matthews; Boyce, Yorke, Scholey, Brady, Smith, Wilson, Wood, Enslin. Subs: Nyemba, Kirkley, Dewsnip, Coser, Morland.

Huddersfield: Hall; Hodgson, Mitchell, Owen, Clark; Bell, Hinchcliffe; Battye, Walker, Sanderson, Thompson, Rhodes, Malthouse, Hoyle, Sharpe.

Referee: Michael Harris.