Hinckley's National 2 North campaign got underway at Harrogate on Saturday, 6 seasons after their last Visit to National 2 when they competed in National 2 South.

A quarter of the match day 20 were on league debut following impressive performances in pre - season. Connor Mitchell took his place at blindside, there was a new 10/12/13 combination made up of Wasps Academy players Connor Eastgate and England U18 centre Jacob Umaga and the evergreen Scott Hamilton. David Peck also played his first game on his return from South Leicester.

Hinckley arrived in Yorkshire, their first visit their since the play - off defeat to Sandal in April 2015 to find driving rain which was set in for the whole afternoon, much like last weekends final pre-season game at home to Cinderford.

Hinckley went into a slight wind first half with the half pack combination of Glover and Eastgate controlling proceedings well. The visitors also had the better side of the penalty count, with the first scoring chance being an Eastgate penalty, which hit the post.

The visitors then worked a couple of penalties close to the line, and this lead to a penalty try from the scrum, converted by Eastgate.

Harrogate started to build some pressure, but when a kick inside the Hinckley half was charged down by Eastgate, Jacob Umaga kicked on and controlled the ball well to score next to the posts. Eastgate again converted.

Hinckley got a third try on 30 mins, when Matthew Fearn barrelling over from short range, Eastgate kicking a third conversion, leave the visitors 21-0 up - this was in the end the last points Hinckley scored.

The half ended at 21-0, with the home kicker unable to convert penalty opportunities with Dave Peck in the bin for a pull back, and a changed front row showed the Hinckley strength in depth up front, win penalties when on defence a man down.

The second half was dominated by Harrogate in terms of territory and possession, with Hinckley now moving to the wrong side of the penalty count. However the only score of the half came when the him side went over in the left hand corner when there had been some dispute about whether or not the ball had gone into touch.

A very pleasing first outing for Hinckley, although when the reviews begin on Sunday, there is still a lot to work on.

Next week, Hinckley are at home for the first time in this campaign, hosting Sale FC at Leicester Road, kicking off at 3pm, as will all home games be this season.

Hinckley: Culpin, Lamb, Hamilton, Umaga, Dacey; Eastgate, Glover; Harvey, Massarella, Peck, Marshall, Fearn, Mitchell, Avent, Salt (c). Reps: Macqueen, Bartlett, Branson, Lord, Murray.