Leo’s Rocket to InterCity Challenge Victory

An assorted squad of age,(51-18) experience, (National league to Gridiron) and size (Big D to Matty M) lined up to face the challenge from the Steel City.
Despite the pitch presciently resembling The Somme in some areas both sides contributed to a full blooded fast and furious game of rugby to entertain both players and spectators alike. Leo’s had a bit more pace and guile in their back line where Jack Haire interrupted his Reading Break to skirmish at scrum half, feeding an impressively direct back line who ran the angles and made good use of possession. The sturdy back row pairing of Harrogate Heaton and Otley Costello were hard to stop and there was support sniping from Matty. The front five were solid all afternoon with Scotty and Rob adding drive momentum in the engine room and Tom, Dave and Ben doing their bit with a few against the heads and “Leicesters”. The speedsters of the Leo’s back line utilised the surfeit of clean ball well and scored two lovely worked tries early on. Hallamshire were not to be outclassed and had some strong and elusive runners of their own who were only kept out by organised scrambling from Tom B, Stuey and Winters. The lineout was working well with Scotty and Matty soaring to set up fresh attacks but resilient Hallamshire couldn’t be breached again before the break.
Changes were made and Conan and Brooklyn Red were added to the pack. The Malawi Magician retired from a strong wing display, and sporting a clean shirt, again! Hallamshire began the second half with a concerted effort to get back in the game. A number of phases straight from the kick off worked them back up field and as hard as Leo’s defended the visitors kept attacking to eventually score out wide without a Leo’s touching the ball. Undaunted by this setback Leo’s once again set about making ground and possession pay. Th big guns of Cadge and Chairman Dave added slow but sure yardage with good retention from the support runners. The game then degenerated somewhat in the midfield. Brooklyn Red took a ball in the eyeball and Si D a prop on the chin but Leo’s kept their noses in front. Eventually more tries were scored despite brave defending and opportunist attacking from Hallamshire with their International (Deaf) England back rower always to the fore. The visitors scored another well deserved try before Leo’s put the game out of sight with an interception. A very entertaining game was brought to a close by the aging Robson Greene who controlled the game evenly and ensured both sides enjoyed their afternoon’s rugby.