Lacklustre Leos lose Nobby Clark Trophy to Solid Scunthorpe.

Lacklustre Leos lose Nobby Clark Trophy to Solid Scunthorpe

A very poor week for general availability across the 3rd and 2nd team squads saw all sorts of midweek machinations. There was even talk of trying to re arrange this showpiece fixture, as the Leos 3s had 7 regulars not avail. In the end the unusual move of cancelling the 2s game was taken, as they only had 9 players and the 2 squads combined.
In theory and on paper this gave Leos a strong looking team. But with rugby being played on grass, well mud actually, little cohesion and a distinct lack of passion were obvious from the outset.
Captain Chaos , Jim Capell tried to fire up his men, as did Lovers who gave an impassioned speech about the history of this fixture and its importance within the 3s season, that being second only to the Barbour Bowl.
For whatever reason neither of these 2 calls to arms really worked and it was a strong looking Scunthorpe team who started on the front foot. Their large, mobile and effective pack tore into the visitors playing pick and go very effectively under the direction of their superb no 9 who put in a mighty performance all game. Leos tackled well and stood up to the initial onslaught but we did not really win any ball for 20 mins. Unopposed scrums due to the home team having only 1 prop meant lots of free possession when mistakes were made. The visiting forwards also therefore had plenty of energy all day with none being used up at scrum time.
There was no lack of bravery on display, Blakey played with recently broken fingers and was his usual combative self. After 20 mins of not touching the ball and tackling wave after wave of greenies Lovers brought Niall on at 12 to get him involved. With Norberry at 13 showing good skills we at last won some ball and made some inroads into the greenies defence. However it was the visitors who scored first, a well worked try which was converted. Leos came back with Harry making a break on the wing and feeding Jason with a pass that was clearly forward. Blakey took off showing pace belying his years and scored out wide , despite a despairing tackle. He got up out of the heavy mud to nail a great kick. Jason is old school, no tee, long grass and thick mud and he just sweetly sailed the kick over, 7 -7.
Back came the greenies largely through their forwards who were more up for it than Leos. They were first to the breakdown and showed more cunning on the floor, hands went in and they got away with it, fair play to them. With more ball the visitors upped the ante and Leos struggled to contain them. They scored another converted try. Leos did work hard, Will Crawforth was the one Leos back who made plenty of ground when he got the ball, running strongly and busting tackles. Leos greater efforts in defence led to Will poaching an interception try, which Jason again converted.
Jamie Tweddle cleaned up the multitude of kicks that came his way as bomb after bomb went up. JCT also ran well showing good balance and elusiveness, but we could never really breakthrough in midfield where Niall and Norberry were well looked after. We also did not win enough quick ball for our gifted runners to exploit.
The lineout was hard fought but again the greenies stole some ball and secured their own. They also got the rub of the green as some of our throws were pinged for not straight quite rightly, and their crooked ones were missed. To be fair to our excellent ref Winnie they deserved these small breaks as they were the better team in most areas of the game.
Rugby league Man Alex made his union bow. He is a unit and took some stopping when he boshed it up. He also tackled strongly and at times enjoyed himself. Once a little fitness is gained and a bit more union experience he will be a fearsome prospect !
One comedy moment in the pre match warm up and a small aside that sums up the fun to be had playing 3s rugby.
Alex “I have got to go and get some bigger shorts, as I can’t run in these ? “
Wee Jimmy pipes up with “ No bother big man, to be sure you can borrow a pair of mine !! “
Much chuckling all round as wee Jimmy is about 8 stone wet through and Alex nearer 19.
Halftime arrived with a very close game in the balance, at least on the scoreboard . Leos were by no means out of it but we needed more effort, application and a bit of luck too. Tom Tweddle came on at 10 for Blakey, Elliot arrived in the 2nd row, Jonny Flowers made his senior rugby debut aged 17, at 7, with his proud Dad running the line and watching on with a keen eye. Lovejoy finally got stitched up and to the delight of his team mates came on at prop in unopposed scrums. This created much humour but more of that later. It did not stop him throwing an outrageous dummy in the style of a “ Macklin “ what’s more it was bought and he charged through the gap it created, a floated long pass saw him try and set the rampaging will free out wide. Will caught the ball, made some good ground and then got tackled. With a squad of 24 there were constant changes through rolling subs and with all this disruption a lack of continuity was not surprising. Captain Chaos called for greater efforts and to start the 2nd stanza well.
However Scunthorpe had no intention of letting Leos back into the contest and it was they who dominated the second half. They scored a converted try after 2 mins and at this point we were in some trouble. The greenies played to a simple game plan. They either played pick and go or their 9 kicked long and accurately. If the ball got to their 10 he often put up huge and well directed up and unders which led to Leos errors. They then got free ball at the scrum deep in our 22 and attacked from there.
This was smart rugby in the heavy conditions and we had little answer. Leos started to miss tackles, unbelievably James Poll missed a routine tackle in midfield, he is the 3s most reliable and destructive tackler, this led to a long run and try being scored and converted. Scunthorpe saw the game for the taking and needed no 2nd invitation. They piled on the pressure and Leos creaked. As we fell off tackles they threw wave after wave of strong running attackers at the home defence. We ran out of numbers as their strong and large centres boshed over the gainline. From resultant quick ball they scored several tries at fairly regular intervals.
Looking back on these tactics Leos could learn some invaluable lessons of how to play territorial rugby and win a tough game. Take note.
Behind the Leos posts a frustrated and clearly apoplectic Lovejoy dressed the team down in full angry wilderbeast mode calling for people to play with some pride and “ have a bloody good look at ourselves “ otherwise we were likely to be on the end of a 50 point stuffing. He also was not getting any ball to run with and to this end started swapping Norberry into prop at unopposed scrum time in an effort to get Leos over the gainline. It did not work, as for various reasons other backs moved were called by Tweddle T using lovers as a decoy. Good idea but passes did not find targets and ball was spilled. Result ? at times we looked largely toothless in attack behind the scrum. The visitors defence was also very strong and they were up very fast cutting down vital time and space. They also slowed down ball expertly and sometimes illegally at the breakdown.
From a tap penalty the grumpy centre did have a good bosh and make some ground, but with support not really arriving the momentum was lost. Mistakes crept into the Leos play as pressure and tired legs told. Tweddles normally reliable boot occasionally misfired from drop outs restarts, with ball going direct into touch or not 10 yards. All of these little things combined to make turning the tide impossible. The greenies kept scoring a try here and there as Leos heads did drop a little.
The game ended with a final score of Scuntorpe 34 to Leos 14.
This was a fair reflection, as they had been by some distance the better team and were clearly more up for winning the Nobby Clark Trophy which they richly deserved to take home with them.
And Leos ? well in truth we tried hard but were not good enough.
A telling comment from Simon Flowers ( ex Roundhesians 1st team ) “ You are simply not nasty enough “ How true, at times we are too gentlemanly for our own good. We could do with a bit on Mongrel, as the Aussies call it.
We missed those 7 regulars particularly Cadgey, Macklin, Gribbon, Wellsy, Hill & Cranfield who are all leaders in different ways. Familiarity of your team mates and how they play is invaluable. Contested scrums may have made for a different game. But we could have played better with the talent we did have on the pitch.
Many thanks to all the 2nd teamers who kindly played for us, with special mention to Will Crawforth who was Leos best player and Man of the Match.
Also Jonny Flowers who played a good hand in the back row on senior debut, making countless tackles and getting to the breakdown quickly.
Overall Man of the Match went to the Scunthorpe 9 who played a stand out game in running, kicking well and setting his backs free at the right moment. He also bossed his pack, and it was as ever the forwards who decided the outcome of the game.
The game was played in excellent spirits despite Niall’s red mist hand bag punch moment. It is always the small ones you have to watch you know !!
So congratulations to The Greenies, aka Scunthorpe on retaining The Nobby Clark Trophy. We look forward to returning to your place next year to attempt to wrench it from your hands !!
Winning and losing different sides of the same coin, how you react to losing defines true character.
So boys I suggest we take this on the chin and react next week by giving Yarnbury an almighty stuffing !!
Final Point on availability.
We all have lives outside of Rugby, fair enough, however putting 4 teams out every week is vital for the future success of Leos.
Please make every effort to be available over the coming weeks across all 4 squads.
We retired to watch the last 10 mins of our 1s win a close game v Huddersfield, so well done to Burdy and all involved. Let us hope this precious cup inspired momentum can be maintained in the tough Yorkshire 2 league, and see us safely move up the table in the run up to Christmas and beyond.
Leos 3s Squad.
Capell, Grant, Gopichandran, King Davies, Flowers, Goff, Clemens, Alex, Griffin, Lynch, Blakey, Tweddle T, Tweddle J , James Couts Tucker ( JCT ) Lovers, Monk, Norberry, Walkden, Crawforth, Minks, Fishburn.
Try : Blakey 1, Crawforth 1
Con : Blakey 2.
Final Score
Leos 14 - Scunthorpe 34.