Tough Start to the Merit League but Forwards deliver BP

1st Game of the Merit Season saw Leo's 2s travel up the A61 to the grand new home of Harrogate RUFC to take on their 3rd XV. Having the power of the Legion of Boom anchoring the scrum Leo's were disappointed to hear that Gate were unable to provide a full front row and it would be uncontested scrums. This was definitely a sign that the young quick Gate side that was warming up were not interested in any form of forward battle.
The game stated badly to say the least with Gate receiving the kick off and promptly fed their lightning backs to score 3 unanswered tries before Leo's had even touched the ball or in some cases learnt everyone's name it was a case of regrouping and just trying to get into the game. With a simple tight game plan Leo's made yards and began to frustrate the young Gate back row who began to feel the heat of the ref's whistle and as Leo's gained field position another penalty led to a 5m line out which was excellently taken by debutant Sam Pearson before a solid drive resulted in Lofty clearing the way for Tweds to fall over and score the first try. Whenever Gate had the ball they continued to look dangerous and took their chances whenever they came but with the Leo's defence improving they were at least scoring round us rather than through us. When the Ref lost patience and produced a yellow for Harrogate Leo's set up a series of 5m drives and as Big D slipped the ball to Lofty who barrelled his way over for the 2nd try of the day. With Jim Capell arriving to offer reinforcement from the bench - Captain Chaos made an immediate impact being bounced off by their impressive 13 as Gate finished off the half with a handy lead of 47-10.
With the torrential rain of the morning giving way to glorious sunshine the half time water was much needed within the Leo's camp and a plan to keep a simple game plan and frustrate the exuberant Gate youngest they went back into the fray once more. An early score for Gate was then matched by a concerted spell of pressure from Leo's which resulted in another yellow for Gate and another serious of 5m drives from Leo's. From a solid maul set up Tom Ledsey came from nowhere to take a short pass a slice straight through for a excellent team try. With the conversion made Leo's were leading the 2nd half. A break away from a knock on in midfield was excellently finished by Harrogate to extend their lead but this was to be the last scoring action as an excellent defensive effort in the 2nd half typified by Big D catching their winger in midfield much to the disbelief of the poor little lad as Dave landed on top of him. As the game got scrappy both teams went down to 14 as Si Winterburn got involved in some handbags at close quarters. Leo's stepped up their pursuit of a 4th try and a bonus point. The game plan that had worked so far continued to create penalties and field position from which as Leo's attacked blind Lofty found his partner in crime and a juggle followed by a big fed saw Big Dave crash over to secure the first league point of the season and a morale boosting draw from th 2nd half.
Despite a final score of 59-22 to Harrogate the 2nds can take a massive amount from a performance that showed a huge amount of heart and determination when many teams in the past would have folded following such a difficult start.