Leos suffer Reality Check via Aireborough losing 50 – 7.

Jim had done a great job in getting 15 lads onto the field with a little help from messrs Macklin ( last min phone call to Ian who changed direction on the ring road and went home to pick up his boots & Lovers continual phoning of Wellsy who had predictably lost his mobile, hey at least he now owns one at last !! )

We welcomed back Crompton, Norman Adams and Wellsy and boy did we need every man.

The game started at a good pace and from the off the visitors were on the front foot, superior fitness and technique saw them dominate the breakdown and then whip quick ball away to their pacey and crucially YOUNG backs ! In no time they had scored 2 well worked tries with the big lads making good hard yards and the backs capitalising on good field position.

The defence of the visitors was awesome at times with Wellsy being cut in half by a border line tackle that we were all very glad to see him get up from! They were up very fast giving the midfield no time and space. The young 19 year old centre Sam did not find the open spaces of last sat but did however communicate much better this week, encouraging his forwards on, probably because some old fat centre had told him to. He also produced a great clearing kick under extreme pressure. We wish him well at Newcastle University and hope to see him in the hols.

At this point on a very hot day with everyone knowing we had no subs a couple of heads dropped somewhat. However Leos did not fold and tried harder to tackle, ruck and give our quick boys some ball. Unfortunately we were having one of those early season days where passes were not quite to hand and the timing of just about everything from line outs to lines of running was off kilter. Like all good teams nearly every time Leos made an error Aireborough scored. By half time we were 25 points ish down and had lost Liam NA to his traditional 1st game of the season injury. Things were looking a tad bleak but.... This Leos 3rd team may have been outclassed but we were not yet embarassed and some of the senior players spoke in plain terms, work harder, clear out rucks, tackle and tackle again and we will be able to put up a fight. Passion was the key missing ingredient. The spirit remained good with Niall, Jim and a fairly fired up Lovejoy all keen to encourage Leos to greater efforts.

The 2nd half continued along the same lines with a very well drilled Aireborough team looking to wrack up a cricket score. Again and again they came and still Leos resisted and started very slowly to fight their way back into the contest. Niall went to 12 and Lovers into 6 for the 1st time in 20 years. As we won a bit more ball Jamie could at last unleash the frustrated backs. Gentle Ben, Wellsy and Jason all made breaks but the star in the backs was Tom who I think was kindly lent by the 2s. He ran directly with great pace and power but most of all he meant it. The passion that we had so evidently lacked in the first 40 was seen clearly streaking down the wing and inspiration dawned for the rest of the home side. He also put in the kick of the day when from a narrow angle and outside his 22 he drilled the ball 45 yrds getting it to bounce just before going into touch.

Poll, Crompton, Macklin, and Capel all started to get over the gain line and suddenly Leos began to play some rugby. Sam found space dancing his way past a few defenders, Gentle Ben ran over people and Wellsy started to cut some good lines off Niall. Jason finally got his head up as he was fed up with having to do so much tackling and rucking in the 1st half and with a word or 2 of encouragement from his mates he stopped sulking and began to enjoy himself.

We also put some big hits in with Poll & Macklin to the fore. Lovers in the forwards was having a ball as he hit anything slow enough for him to catch up to, with 1 tackle taking a player clean off the park and close to the couple of spectators. His line out lifting was less good as he struggled to learn a new role on the job. He was at least very vocal in seeking to encourage his mates, when he had any spare breath that is, as this was really hard work.

Leos kept pushing and despite the odd mistake which usually led to another Aireborough try worked themselves into a good position deep into enemy territory. Jamie had been sniping from the base of the ruck and from one such dart he sailed over under the posts to the delight of every Leo in sight. Jason was having a well earnt rest so not even Lovers could miss from there despite some gentle ribbing from our superb ref Cadgey. By now the score was approaching 50 points against but at least we were on the board with a plucky 7!

It was noticeable that even conceding 1 try that that the tone had changed and the words from the visitors were a little more concerned.
At some point in the 2nd half a couple of Leos forwards got a little over keen in the tackle and were dealt with swiftly by the Ref, who made it eminently clear that this was their 1st and only warning before yellow cards and a rest were a certainty. In truth Cadgey officiated very well controlling the game with his easy authority and keeping it flowing well. We missed his size, leadership and general Cadgeyness in the forwards and hope he returns to playing duties next sat.

So with regular water breaks being taken the game entered its final quarter with most of the Leos side exhausted. Cadgey when asked how long left replied with some glee “Oh a good 18 mins yet!“ Deep Joy.

Jason decided to get a bemused lovers to take the latest restart after yet another Aireborough try. As he smashed into the lad who caught the ball with real venom the penny dropped. Suddenly the real Blakey was back and when he next received the ball he simply disappeared stepping defenders at will.

Clearly frustrated and not a little cross was Jason, as he ran on with the rest of his team mates trying our best to catch him up in support.
Leos finished the stronger despite conceding so may tries, simply because they had at last played with vim and vigour. It was a shame they waited until the game was beyond them to show their resolve.

The game ended in handshakes and smiles from the visitors who were by far the better team on the day. Final score 50 - 7 . The visitors warm down run gave the final proof they were nothing like normal opposition. I am not sure they were 43 points the better team and we look forward to the return fixture where with a slightly larger squad and maybe a little more match fitness Leos hope to put in a much improved performance.

Next week we travel to the wilds of Huddersfield in our first mission of the season into deepest darkest Cleckhuddersfax so get your availability sorted and let’s look to return to winning ways swiftly.