Macklins Magic Dummy puts polish on a memorable win

Confusion abounded before Leos 3s assembled with Captain Capell going from having 19 on Fri evening to losing several players notably vice captain Cranfield with a blood clot on his shin. With some last minute juggling Capell returned from the 2s to lead his team and in the end we started the game with 15 partly due to Macklin turning up unexpectedly- Hooray !! this allowed the injured Gribben to rest before a knee op, so a result all round.
Corinthians are always tough and have been noticeably combative in past games, but they arrived today with a very young side with plenty of pace along with a few old heads to guide the youngsters development.
The word before the game was simple, run hard at these young boys and do the basics on a wet day.
As the game started in unopposed scrums due to a lack of visiting front row it became clear that Leos were on the front foot. We welcomed back Richie Edgar from long term hamstring injury and he gamely played out of position on the wing. With Herring also returning from a similar injury and no subs Leos kept their collective fingers crossed that everyone would survive the full 80. The diddy doc was soon in the action, receiving quick ball in space he motored off down the wing to beat the cover defence and score out wide. Tweddle J missed a difficult conversion on a heavy pitch.
Once Leos realised that they were the stronger team the forwards started to rumble. The returning Andy Hill took over from James Polls herculean efforts last week and was constantly making breaks at pace. With no energy expended in the glorified cuddle that passed for scrums all the forwards wanted in on the action. Macklin, Cadgey, Poll, Nathan and Capell all made significant hard yards. However the backs had a mixed day. Very slow, at times ponderous, ball caused Jamie at 10 no end of problems. Several passes went clean over his head from Metrosexual Man Capper, fortunately rather than try and catch bad ball and risk a knock on he got the call from Lovers to simply leave it to the rotund centre to clean it up, bosh it up and start again.
Niall at 13 had one of those days when his normally reliable hands deserted him. He dropped more passes than I can ever remember ! That said his defence with the rotund one was sound whenever the young scamps sought to break through. From quick ball deep in their own half Corinthians ran bravely beating lovers for pace. Stung by this he ran back and helped Niall tackle the visitor, stealing turnover ball in the process. It was an unfair contest at 18.5 stone ripping the ball from a nipper was too easy. From this quick ball Leos were on the attack again, once the ball was recycled a couple of times Andy Hill burst through a ruck from fully 40 yards out to score a wonderful try. He is deceptively strong and brushed off would be tacklers as he went. Con missed.
The Leos lineout went well all day with Nathan stealing lots of ball and securing his own due to accurate throwing from Matt Barton. Dean Chapman kindly played openside for the first time in his rugby life, doing very well as he popped up in several attacks at pace.
Leos then got greedy. Forwards were hanging around in the 9/10 channel wanting to run with the ball, unfortunately they simply got in the way and slowed already slow ball down. Along with several backs dropping plenty of very catchable ball Leos proceeded to make life hard for themselves and allow the plucky visitors back into the game. We made countless errors, and with unopposed scrums gave possession away time after time. At this point your scribe had had quite enough. From good work in a rolling maul by the Leos forwards the ball reached said rotund one about 15 yards from the try line. He charged at the heart of the visiting defence in full wilderbeast mode, determined that no matter how many people got hold of him he was going to score. He got useful support from his arriving pack and drove his way over the line for his first try of the season with several Corinthians trying in vane to stop him.
Halftime arrived and Capell was generous in his assessment. Cadgey exchanged glances with several senior players, not quite so convinced, in truth we had dropped too much ball, got greedy, and against a better team would have been punished as a result. We also had kicked too much.
The second half was a much improved effort. Niall started to catch the ball as the backs tried to spin it wide and stopped kicking it. Wellsy ran well as ever from deep and the marauding Edgar came off his wing to good effect popping up in the centres at pace. By now we had lost the diddy doc Herring to surprise surprise, a hamstring injury. Corinthians kindly lent us young Andy who proceeded to score the best try of the game. Driving forward play produced some quick ball, simple but accurate hands from the backs saw Andy put in space on around the halfway line. He showed good strength to burst a tackle and then natural speed took over. To cheers of encouragement he sailed over the try line out wide to score a wonderful team try against his mates. Con missed by Lovers with Gabes our excellent ref saying “ Lovers if you kick this I will walk naked from the pitch to the club house ! “ Thank the good Lord I missed, as inflicting a naked budda on any supporters would be a horrendous crime.
Andy hill bagged his second try of the day again destroying anyone who dared to try and stop him. This was just about converted by Capell who managed to get the ball to limp over from in front. Leos were now firmly in control but the visitors never let their heads go down. Their young 12 tried to show his pace and stepping ability but never really got enough ball to do so. Corinthians forwards played pick and go very well and only solid home defence kept them from scoring on several occasions.
Leos were clearly enjoying themselves as ably demonstrated by Macklin. Last week it was a delightful kick, today Chris set off on one of his powerful trademark runs, deciding he was fed up with backs dropping the ball he threw an outrageous dummy which was bought and he sped through the resulting gap ending up deep in the opposition s half. A joy to watch and not that surprising from our skilful prop, or maybe frustrated would be centre ?
As the game entered the final quarter Leos got cheeky. Edgar took a quick line out and Niall showed good speed and power to race in from 30 yards, scoring right in the corner. Lovers nailed the kick of his life despite Edgar and Capell questioning that he should take it. If I never convert another try I do not care because that felt wonderful ! Gabes reneged on his bet and thankfully kept his clothes on as he blew the final whistle.
Final score 34-0 to Leos.
The game was played in good spirits by both teams.
Man of the Match, Andy Hill for a barnstorming display, particularly with ball in hand.
At times Leos played some lovely free flowing rugby, at times we also butchered try scoring chances, overall a good win and another 0 in the visitors column. We retired to watch the last 15 mins of our 1s encounter with Yorkshire 1 side Keighley in the Cup. We cheered our boys on to a memorable win, well done to all involved. Let us hope this superb victory will spur the 1s on to similar efforts when they return to league action in the coming weeks.

Team: Cadge, Barton, Macklin, Capell, Gopichandran, Poll, Hill, Chapman D, Capper, Tweddle J, Lovers, Monk, Herring Edgar, Wells.
Linesman: Gribben Junior.

Tries
Hill 2, Lovers 1, Herring 1, Monk1, Andy ( Corinthians player ) 1
Con
Capell 1, Lovers 1.