Leos 18 v Moortown 16

Another saturday,another local derby.This time,it was old foes Moortown,who crossed the perilous King Lane,to be our latest visitors,on what was also the first Vice Presidents Lunch of the season.Moortown are enjoying their best season in over twenty years,under the leadership and guile of their distinguished President and Leo regular Geoff Lilley and deservedly lie third in a very competitive league table.

After a weeks break,Leos were pleased to be able to welcome back Connell and Frear,to the front five,for their seasons debuts,after exams and a wedding respectively.

The pitch had again held up remarkedly well after the deluge of the previous few days,but at least saturday brought pleasant,bright and still conditions.Moortown conceded a penalty for a high tackle after only 2 mins,with Henry opting to take an optimistic 40m penalty,in the very soft conditions.Clearly however,this was a clever tactical ploy as the ball skimmed the grass and rolled dead,Leos recovered the 22m restart,recycled via Connell,McIntosh and Dowling,for Newton to spot a gap on the blind side and allow winger Liu to hand off his man and score in the corner.

The game settled down,with both sides making big hits,particularly Barden and Levitt,on the soon to be wed,dangerous Moortown centre,Eastham.However,when Leos back row went off their feet at a ruck,Moortown had the chance to reduce the arrears,but the 35m shot,fell just short.

For the first time in several weeks,Leos were enjoying parity in the forwards,with Debenham and Frear dominant at the line out and the front row enjoying a slight nudge,which importantly allowed Henry to make good distance with his boot.Although the game was being played primarilly in the visitors half,their well structured defence never missed a tackle and they were also safe on their own set piece ball.

However,the pressure was mounting and Moortown began to concede penalties,until they had a player sin binned on 25mins for throwing a punch and Henry calmly converted the 30m penalty,to give Leos an eight point advantage.

The home side returned to the attack,with Newton and Wainwright developing a useful understanding,Winter probing in the centre and important ball carries from Lane and Dowling.

Unlike previous weeks,the ball was being retained in contact,allowing the impressive Wainwright to pull the strings from ten.This was well demonstrated on 32mins,when Knibbs twice made inroads into the visitors defence,each time the ball was quickly recycled,before McIntosh and Lane led forward drives infield,before the ball was accurately switched to the right,where winger Baker superbly picked up a difficult ball,before outpacing his opponent and scoring a classical try.As was to prove crucial,Henry then put over the touch line conversion,to give a score line of 15 - 0.

Moortown then had their only concerted attacks of the first half,but the Leos defence held firm under extreme pressure,with important tackles being made by both Newton and Frear,before the dangerous Liu relieved the pressure with a scintillating 50m break and the half time whistle went.

A comprehensive first half performance from the home side,with a more patient and disciplined approach,allowing Leos to build pressure,play field position and take their oppourtunities,rather than recent weeks,when Leos have tried to score every time they have secured the ball.However the brutal forward battle had taken its toll,with Dowling and McIntosh needing to be replaced by Loughenbury and Forton respectively.

The second half started in a similar manner to the first half,with Leos enjoying the better field position.However,the tables slowly began to turn,with Moortown showing more intensity in the loose and their fly half beginning to use the slight breeze to good effect.A couple of soft penalties allowed the visiting forwards to camp in the Leos 22 and eventually they won clean lineout ball,which they swiftly transferred from left to right,to create an overlap and try in the corner on 48mins.The difficult conversion hit the post and came out.

Leos then had to soak up further pressure,without looking likely to have their line breached,before a forward was isolated in trying to clear the ball and Moortown further reduced the lead to 15 - 8 with the 59 min penalty.

Leos responded positively and when the visitors were caught off side,Henry again calmly slotted the 30m penalty,to restore a ten point lead.However,it was now far more of an even battle,particularly with Leos conceding unnecessary penalties.With the game appearing safe,Forton was binned for a disagreement with the referee,resulting in the lead again being reduced to just 7 points with 15 mins remaining.

Moortown found new belief and tore into the Leos forwards,requiring crucial tackles from Bardon and Winter,to prevent the lead being further eroded.Pressure eventually told,when Moortown drove over the Leos seven,from a catch and drive,giving a score line of 18 - 16,on 75mins.

Forton returned and the last five minutes were played out in the visitors half,with Wainwright showing his experience to pepper the corners.Appropriately,the last play of the game,saw Debenham take an amazing one handed catch,with Henry drilling the ball into touch for a Leos victory.

A typical,full blooded local derby with Leos just deserving their victory,on a very impressive first half performance.A brief mention also for local dentist come solicitor and part time referee Phil Shaw,who referred what is always an explosive fixture,in a quiet but firm and effective manner.

Other results went largely as expected,but second placed Pocklington,pipped leaders Huddersfield YM,producing an even more congested league table.Next week,Leos travel to Halifax to face bottom on the table Rishworthians,who are experiencing a difficult season after last years promotion.However,they are particularly hard to beat at home,where their large and effective front five tend to win sufficient ball,but they have had difficulties in converting field position into points.In post match

Clubhouse gossip,Dr Bebb,not only confirmed his return to fitness,but also gave a personal guarantee that Dr. Myerscough will be returning to the Club in the New Year,after 18 months playing Grade rugby in Australia.Best wishes also go to Vice Chairman John Howells on next weekends wedding.

Leos scorers:Tries Liu,Baker Penalty: Henry Conversion: Henry
LeosHenry,Baker,Knibbs,Winter,Liu.Wainwright,Newton,Connell,MacIntosh,Dowling,Frear,Debenham,Levitt,Lane Barden,Forton,Loughenbury
Report Peter Cooke