Leos 22 v Yarnbury 38

Saturday saw yet another north Leeds local derby,this time with the visit of Yarnbury to Crag Lane.Yarnbury were a little unlucky to be relegated from Yorks 1 last season,but got this years campaign off to a surprisingly slow start.Recently however,they have regained form,with a 50 point victory last week over Skipton.

Leos on the other hand have failed to overcome the loss of four or five key,physical forwards in recent weeks and therefore have been playing the game on their back foot.Again Leos were missing influential players in the front five,but did welcome back Loughenbury and Fforde.

Leos got off to a disasterous start,with a clever cross field kick putting Yarnbury ahead after a couple of minutes,almost immediately followed by a poor clearance,failing to find touch,allowing the dangerous Yarnbury threequarters to handle from left to right for the winger to score in the corner.Then,a simple break to the blindside from a scrum,created an over lap for the visitors third try inside 10 mins and a lead of 0 - 19,with Leos hardly having touched the ball.

Leos finally began to show some intensity,with Fforde leading by example and Henry linking dangerously from full back,.Knibbs put Liu away down the wing and when Yarnbury killed the ball,Wainwright accurately put the ball into the corner.An impressive catch and drive from the forwards,ended with Fforde coming up with the ball for the home sides first try.

The game settled down,with the experienced visitors fly half kicking well for field position and aggressive defence fron their back line leading an unusual number of handling errors and inaccurate passing from the Leos threequarters.

The set pieces were relatively even,but Yarnbury appeared to have more intensity and physicallity about their loose play,whilst their back row was a yard quicker to the break down,but they missed a chance to increase their lead on 28mins,when a relatively straight forward penalty was sent wide..They were however guilty of not releasing in the tackle and killing the ball when Leos threatened.Eventually this had to tell and for his third offence in his defensive quarter,the scrum half was finally sin binned on 34 mins.

Another Wainwright kick to the corner,saw Lane taking possession,for the forwards to again drive over,this time with Barden coming up with the ball and Henry adding the two points.A final penalty on the half time whistle,saw Henry land an impressive 40m goal,for a score of 15 - 19.

Frankly,after such a lack lustre opening,Leos were lucky to be still in the game,but were not playing with their usual confidence behind the scrum,perhaps in part,due to the line speed of the visitors defence.Early in the second half,Leos conceded a succession of penalties,eventually resulting in a shot at goal going wide,before Lane,Levitt and Fforde combined for a try saving tackle in the right corner.

Unfortunately,Fforde had to leave the field,replaced by Howells,giving Yarnbury an increased edge in strength and size.They took advantage when their forwards drove over on 55mins,to stretch their lead to 11 points,before Leos responded with the best try of the game.Knibbs made the initial half break,before quick ball secured by props Dowling and Loughenbury,allowed Newton to feed Wainwright,who turned inside to Winter for a well constructed try under the sticks.The conversion from Henry gave a scoreline of 22 - 26 on 62mins.

Debenham took responsibility at the line out to win a number of important balls,but too often,loose carries from Leos players,lost the ball in contact,meaning that pressure could not be mounted on the visitors line.Yarnbury were also able to introduce more size and experience from their bench,which told on 70 mins when their bigger forwards again drove over from a close range lineout.

Shortly afterwards,they effectively won the game,when quick,accurate handling from their backs,created a gap for one of their centres to score under the posts,the Paterson conversion,giving a score of 22 - 38.For the last five minutes,Leos attacked at every oppourtunity to try and secure a bonus point,but half chances to Liu and Bardon,saw difficult balls going to ground.

A deserved victory for Yarnbury.Clearly,Leos can't afford to give any side a 19 point start,but even so,Yarnbury demonstrated greater patience,better ball retention and perhaps most importantly more physicality,in both defence and attack.

An enjoyable,open game,well refereed by the former Welsh dual international half back,Gary Pearce,who at least allowed the players to determine the outcome of the game,rather than his whistle.Next week,there is a break from league rugby,allowing bruised bodies to recover,before another derby on Nov 13,against neighbours Moortown.

This game also sees the first Vice Presidents Luncheon of the year,whilst next weekend sees the Minis and Juniors Bonfire Spectacular - details of both events are available from the Clubhouse.Finally,Tim Heatons Ladies First XV,duly beat Waterloo last sunday 21 - 17,to remain unbeaten in North 1.

Leos: Tries Fforde,Barden Winter: Conversion Henry x 2 Penalty Henry
Leos Henry,Liu, Winter,Knibbs,Baker,Wainright,Newton,Loughenbury, MacIntosh,Dowling,Fforde,Debenham,Levitt,Lane, Barden, Howells
ReportPeter Cooke