The resulting quick ball was well used by Dancing Dave at 10 and Tim at 12 who both continually put John into gaps. John made drive after drive over the gainline and had his finest outing in a Leos shirt to date. Mods tackled well and managed to hold their line intact until Matt broke free, he then handed off, stepped or simply boshed what seemed like half the visiting team out of the way to score a fine individual converted try. Small in stature, big in heart.
Mods answered in kind as a well worked set of drives, led by their No 8, saw Leos line breached despite much defensive effort. Captain James notably burying anyone who came down his channel. The lineout was a good source of ball, despite the wind, and from it the Leos pack rumbled and made good hard yards. Simon tidied up plenty of scrappy ball from his wing, doing well to stay on his feet until support arrived, he also had several strong runs. The wind contributed to a fair few knock ons and many unopposed scrums resulted. Mods scored another before half time, again converted.
The second half saw the Dark Lord arrive at 9 complete with shiny new set of studs and your humble scribe slotted in at 12. Now playing with the wind Leos kicked for the corners well, led by their new 9 and applied pressure on the visiting lineout. From a 5 m scrum, Cadgey went blind and very nearly scored in the corner taking most of the Mods pack with him, he was just nudged into touch. After much good work by the forwards Dancing Dave glided through a gap to score a converted try. With the game in the balance Mods began to gain the upper hand as they ran strongly, they had a try disallowed somewhat harshly by the amiable ref. They did finally cross the whitewash to lead 21 – 14.
In the final 10 mins John returned at centre and again ran very strongly breaking tackles almost at will. He was man of the match. After reprimanding the Leos backs for chelping, your scribe, now running the line, had a classic “Do as I say not as I do “ moment by ranting about hands on the floor, much to the amusement of everyone! Ah some things don’t change.
At the final whistle Leos retired after a game played in very good spirits to enjoy a crate of beer and for our resident Brontesaurus to cheer on the Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys. The front row union must have come close to expelling a certain Leos player for some seriously Joe 90 glasses, def too cool for school! Notably Ben, the only 2s player in the side on seeing beer in the dressing room was heard to say “Blimey do you do this every week? “ Of course, how not. Team spirit is building very well in the 3s and as James takes us forward into next season things look bright.