After a hugely impressive opening day victory over Hegians,Leos travelled to Sandylands for a game against one of the promotion favourites Skipton,who were unlucky to be relegated from Div 1 last season.They have recruited well over the summer,with their usual overseas contingent this time comprising of an Australian full back and a South African hooker.They too opened their season impressively,with an away win at Hullensians.

With Baker unavailable,Leos had to change their threequarters,with Henry moving up to centre,Liu out to the wing and Bindloss coming in at full back,whilst McIntosh started at hooker.

The pitch was lush,but showers made conditions slippery,meaning that ball control and field position would be vital,whilst Skipton took first use of the breeze.The Leos forwards dominated the opening stages,with Robinson and Bebb taking the ball into contact,supported by Chesters and Loughenbury,but little headway was made against a robust pack.

When Skipton countered,Henry put in a bone crunching tackle on his opposite number to relieve the pressure,before Skipton went wide with a 35m penalty after 8mins.Leos came back via the strong running Lane,supported by Henry,who put Liu away over 40m,but a Skipton defender made a tremendous try saving tackle.

The deadlock was broken on 15mins,when the home side were awarded a penalty for an alleged high tackle,but Leos immediately came back,with Wainwright converting after hands in the ruck.Both sides attempted to run the ball,with the home full back proving an elusive runner and an ever present threat out wide,whilst the Leos back row were tending to dominate their opponents.

Skipton missed a long range penalty,before Leos forwards combined with powerful runs from Lane,Chesters and Robinson,before an inside ball from Wood saw Haslam charging 20m,through a rare gap in the home sides defence to score a wonderful try.Wainwrights difficult touch line conversion struck the post,to give a half time score of 3 - 8.

An impressive first 40mins by Leos,particularly playing against the breeze,but the warning signs were there,with Skipton enjoying greater variety at the lineout,together with two speedy wingers.Could Leos secure sufficient possession to play the second period in the home sides half?

The second forty opened evenly,with defences generally on top,with thunderous tackles taking place all over the pitch,before quick handling from the Skipton backs,put their left winger in at the corner on 47mins.Richards,the former North Ribblesdale centre,added the touchline conversion to nudge Skipton ahead.

Leos immediately responded with the best try of the game,with the backs and forwards combining,through Barden,Wainwright and Knibbs,before a delightful dummy from Bindloss opened the defence,for Lunt to take an inside ball and race 30m beating two defenders for a truely outstanding try.The sure boot of Wainwright gave Leos a 10 - 15 lead with 55mins on the clock.,which he extended to an eight point lead on 60mins.

Crucially however,Skipton were able to make impact changes from the bench and deny Leos ball.They scored their second try on 64mins in the right hand corner to reduce the defeceit to just three points,whilst Leos missed a long range penalty direct from the restart.However,the momentum was now with Skipton and a weak Leos clearance fell easily into the hands of the dangerous home sides backs,who handled swiftly and accurately to score in the corner and push themselves four points clear with eight minutes remaining.

In the last few minutes,Leos attacked at every oppourtunity,but in doing so,lost the bonus point as the left winger broke away to give a final score of 29 - 18.

An entertaining and enjoyable game,played in good spirit,with Skipton probably just deserving their victory for their additional possession in the final 20mins.Leos can certainly take great heart from the game in what turned out to be a pulsating encounter between two very good teams.

The Leos supporters club man of the match award went to back row Dave Barden for his attacking flair around the park and his strong defensive qualities.

In other games,Huddersfield YM were the surprise winners at West Park Leeds,whilst next weeks opponents West Leeds,with a number of players returning from injury,put an impressive 53 points past Hullensians.

At this early stage Leos lie sixth,with Huddersfield YM,Ripon and Pocklington heading the table and Rishworthians and Yarnbury at the bottom.In the Shield,Leos next opponents have been determined,with Knottingley edging past Castleford,whilst we congratulate Nick Freear and his new bride on an apparently very enjoyable wedding last week.

Finally,could all new players,members and supporters ensure that they registered on the web site,in order for them to receive the various e-mails,weekly round ups etc.

Leos team:
Bindloss,Liu,Henry,Knibbs,Lunn,Wainwright,Woods,Robinson,McIntosh,Bebb,Chesters,Loughenbury,Haslam,Lane, Barden,Levitt,Forton
Scorers-Tries:Haslam,Lunn. Penalties: Wainwright x 2 Conversions: Wainwright
Report by Peter Cooke