Knottingley 17 v Leos 18

Report By Ian Nicholson

Leos travelled to Knottingley having beaten them comfortably at home in October. There were concerns about the state of the pitch as their proposed re-arranged game with Sheffield Medics last week was cancelled due to the ground being waterlogged.

However it was in quite good condition and allowed both sides to try and play some rugby although a strong crosswind which strengthened as the game progressed made handling difficult and inevitably mistakes were made.

Leos started brightly and good field position in the opposition 22 allowed Dan Hyde to deliver a lovely weighted pass to feed Tim Sleight who used his skill, speed and strength to squeeze past his opposite number and open the scoring after 5 minutes 5-0 to Leos.

Knottingley then controlled the ball well for the rest of the half and their lively backs caused some anxious moments although the usual reliable mid-field defence held firm. Knottingley’s outstanding player, No8 Craig Field started to impose himself winning good line-out ball and sucking in defenders in open play and only a final wayward or dropped pass prevented them from opening their account.

On 25 minutes Knottingley attacked down the left, kicked ahead and the referee ruled that a player was obstructed and from the resulting kick to touch the forwards rumbled over the line and scored with a good conversion to put Knottingley in front 7-5. This encouraged the home side and they continued to press and from a 5 metre scrum Field scored to extend the lead to 12 -5 (HT)

The second half continued in the same vein with Knottingley enjoying more of the ball and using the wind to good effect to create field position. Leos continued to defend well an looked dangerous when the backs had the ball and were rewarded for their efforts by a Ed Farmer penalty to reduce the arrears 8-12.

Knottingley hit back quickly and a series of quick rucks in the 22 left Leos short of numbers and led to a try to put them 17-8 in front after about 60 minutes. Leos fitness then started to kick in and the forwards well marshalled by Dan Hyde and skipper Chris Lewis began to win ball and put pressure on the Knottingley defence .

The increased possession led to an overlap and quick hands put Danny Thompson clear and he fed Tim Sleight to scorch over for his second try. Ed Farmer kicked a good and vital conversion and Leos were back in it 15-17 with 10 minutes to go.

Leos continued to pressure the home defence and Knottingley had to infringe to try win some ball. Leos were rewarded for this pressure 5 minutes from time and Ed Farmer held his nerve to slot the winning penalty 18-17.

A good hard game with Knottingley belying their lowly league position. Leos were delighted with the win which saw them dig deep to come back and take the spoils. Refereed well by young Adam Robson from Hull.

Leos:Henry, O’Brien,Knibbs,Thompson,Sleight, Farmer,Bean; Baker, McIntosh, Lewis, Debenham, Howells, Lane, Simpson, Hyde:
Subs, Farad, Dowling Lund