Leos returned to Crag Lane following the double header away at Yarnbury last week looking to build on the momentum gained over the past few weeks. With Archie unavailable we were down to just the one double-barrelled athlete but ultimately were able to field a strong squad yet again for the visit of Bramley Phoenix.

The game was played in glorious autumn sunshine and with the main pitch hosting a tag rugby event some of Leos latest recruits had their first experience of the gravitational variances of the back pitch. Leos started well and put Bramley under pressure from the kick off; a sharp blind side attack featuring fleet of hand and foot saw the first try of the day scored by Tom Tweddle who just had enough in the tank to see off the covering defender to score next to the left hand upright.

Leos found their achilles heel for the day and failed to deal with the kick off and affliction that would trouble them for throughout the game and despite inviting Bramley into their half Leos cleared the pressure when Billy Marsh showed there is more depth to his skills than training spreadsheets with a text book box kick much to the amazement of his fellow players. Leos grabbed their 2nd try through excellent defensive pressure and from the resulting turn over Porter shimmied and snaked his way to the line before passing to Tom Warren who straightened to touch down and score his first try in Leos colours.

Leos were in the mood now and with offloads sticking and strong driving play from Sam Pearson and Si Winterburn before a slicing break from Porter the ball was recycled to Michael Pritchard-Howarth who used all his power to score the 3rd try of the day putting Leos into a comfortable 21-0 lead. As is the classic Leos way regardless of long players have been at our great club there was time for a period of switching off which allowed Bramley both territory and possession and some soft defence saw Bramley respond with a try of their own.

Leos responded again with a flowing backs move utilising the deadly bounce pass saw the ball shifted out to Rob Simpson who showed quick feet and deceptive strength to break 3 or 4 tackles before scoring wide out on the right, with the kick successful Leos were back out to a 21 point lead 3/4 of the way through the first half.

However Bramley were not going to go down without a fight and began to gain superiority in the set piece and as Leos discipline waned they fought their way back into the game with firstly their captain running hard and straight and then quick hands freed their winger to score 2 tries prior to the half time hooter, meaning Leos headed into the huddle with a 28-17 lead.

The message was clear at half time from the senior players that Leos needed to improve physically and not allow Bramley to build early momentum at the start of the 2nd half, unfortunately as with many messages at half time the opposite happened and Bramley score through a series of pick and drives to make it a 6 point ball game with half an hour to go.

With the game now back on the line and clearly not going to be the cake walk many thought after the first 20 Leos began to repel the Bramley attacks with Pearson, Pritchard-Howarth and Winterburn leading the defensive battle around the fringes and Bindloss bringing is usual mix of chat and enthusiasm to midfield line speed. Despite Bramley dominating territory and possession for the next 10 minutes Leos held firm and from a knock on in the tackle were able to clear their lines and get back some equilibrium in the territory stakes.

The game was put to bed as the Leos pack got the rolling maul going before Porter hit a great line from 10 and despite the cover defence managing to haul him down with a perfect tap tackle the ball was popped up to the supporting Tweddle who crossed for his 2nd try of the game. With the score visually knocking the confidence out of their opposition Leos went back up field from the kick off and after multiple phases Connor Spencer showed his raw power to carry straight through the defence and power in from 20 metres. With the conversion good Ref Tom bought the game to a close with Leos running out victors 42-22.

A great game played in excellent spirit from both sides and with both teams determined to play the game the right way it made for a highly satisfying Saturday afternoon all round.