Yarnbury 26 v Leos 13

Report by Peter Cooke

After a successful opening league weekend,Leos travelled to Horsforth,to face one of the promotion favourites Yarnbury.On the opening weekend,Yarnbury earned a hard fought victory at Knottingley,whilst Leos enjoyed a comfortable victory over West Park Leeds.

Leos had to make a number of changes,particularly in the forwards,where Gareth Chesters and Will Levitt formed a new second row partnership,Martin McIntosh started as hooker and Joe Newcombe came into the backrow.In the backs,it was good to welcome back Tim Sleight to the right wing,after his exams.Yarnbury were also missing their influencial fly half,Carl Patterson but were able to field their large,efficient pack.

The opening exchanges produced something of a stalemate,with the game being primarily played in midfield.Martin McIntosh took an early strike against the head but it was clear that Leos were lacking lineout options,so the home side began to monoplolise possession and it required strong fringe defence from the back row of Lenny Lane, Richie Howells and Joe Newcombe,to drive Yarnbury back in the tackle.

Leos looked dangerous in broken play,with the elusive Mark Winter always a threat,whilst Danny Thompson always enjoys playing against his former club.

Yarnbury took the lead on 20mins,when,after two successive penalties,a forward scored from close range,after one of their trade mark catch and drives.Leos missed a long range penalty before Ed Farmer cut the margin to 7 - 3 on 30mins.

However,further infringements took Yarnbury back upfield,where after a series of 5m scrums,their centre crossed the line,to produce a half time score of 14 - 3.A very physical but not particularly entertaining first half.

The second half opened more promisingly,with Leos enjoying more possession, Ed Farmer distributing well and Tim Sleight looking a constant danger out wide.However,with Leos enjoying their best phase of the game,Yarnbury used hands to turnover ruck ball on the blindside of the referee and a Yarnburys Ian Maycock raced unchallenged to the line,to give a score of 21 - 3 after 55mins.Leos increased their physical presence,with Stuart Baker, Mark McDaid and Dan Hyde all entering the fray.

Another series of penalties took the home side upfield and dispite crunching tackles from Gareth Chesters and Chris Lewis,Yarnbury finally sealed the game on 65mins,with another close range try,whilst Leos were reduced to thirteen men with yellow cards for coach Dan Hyde and prop Simon Dowling.

When equal numbers were restored,Danny Thompson demonstrated his strength to burst the first line of defence,before showing good speed to round the full back - 26 - 8.Leos kept working and with Will Levitt prominent at the break down,ball was recycled before Ed Farmer intelligently kick through,for Tim Sleight,who finished well in the left corner on 72mins.

Leos kept going to the end,seeking a further try for a losing bonus point but the whistle went,giving Yarnbury a deserved 26 - 13 victory.Frankly,not a particularly entertaining game,but Yarnbury will prove difficult to beat,particularly when the wintery conditions arrive.

West Leeds won their second game to take the early lead in the table,whilst next weeks opponents Baildon,put in a much improved performance,before finally going down at home to Knottingley.Some of their young,speedy threequarters will be available next week,before returning to university.

At Crag Lane,the seconds had to settle for a 24 all draw with Yarnbury,due to a late try from the visitors but there were impressive seasons debuts from Ed Connell and Nick Freear at the set piece,whilst Rob Gamage had a strong game in the threequarters.On the cricket side,a final game victory over Sherburn and defeat for Thorner,meant that the first X1 secured the second promotion spot and now returen to Wetherby League Div 1,for the first time in many years.

Leos:Norton,O,Brien,Winter,Thompson,Sleight,Falmer,Tweddle,Dowling,
McIntosh,Lewis,Chesters,Levitt,Newcombe,Lane,Howells subs- Baker,Hyde,McDaid
Yarnbury:Mortimer,Roebuck,Avison,Van-Heel,Flowers,Wilson,Cashma,Pike,Gichrist,Lister,Maycock,
Falgate,Batson,Bennett,Ctyan,Moss,Fox,Jones