2nd XV
Matches
Sat 25 Jan 2020  ·  Northern & Western League
Leos RUFC
2nd XV
Tries: T Tweddle (2), F Davies (2)Conversions: T Tweddle (3)
26
24
West Park Leeds 2
Leos secure local bragging rights...Just

Leos secure local bragging rights...Just

Tom Tweddle27 Jan 2020 - 10:53
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Leos edge local derby with West Park

Leos 2s welcomed local rivals West Park Leeds to Crag Lane on Saturday looking to keep the pressure on the Ossett & Cleckheaton at the top of the Merit League Table.

Some last minute canine last rights and difficult child care coupled with the visitors declaring their hand for scrums to be uncontested, Leos had some reshuffling to do from the team announced with Tomas Bindloss moving into the back row and Jake Radcliffe starting in midfield.

Once West Park had got their prima donna moment out of the way over the match ball the game kicked off under brightening skies and a reasonable crowd cheering on both sides. After the initial blood and thunder that greets most local derbies Leos gained the territorial ascendancy through strong carries across the pack and some probing kicks from Tweddle and Perkins on is 2nd team debut. From a lineout Leos forwards carried hard in West Parks 22 and with a defensive line in front of them Tweds chipped over and regathered on the bounce (several) to dot down for the opening score. Conversion successful Leos were 7-0 up.

Leos 2nd try came quickly afterwards when the resulting kick off failed to go the full 10 metres Leos opted for the scrum with uncontested scrums guaranteeing possession. Teriyaki Ben picked from the base and made a strong carry holding off the attention of West Park's back row before offloading to Fenton Davies he dumied his way through the first line of defence before showing a good turn of pace to see off the full back and go round under the posts, conversion successful and Leos led 14-0 after the first quarter.

Leos continued to dominate but some loose support work handed West Park a penalty to gain some territory and launch a first phase attack off the lineout that saw their centres work some impressive lines to send the 13 through and despite the best efforts of full back Paddy Behan saw Leos lead cut to 7.

This seemed to give West Park an increased confidence and saw them settle more in to the game bringing their patterns of play into the contest with some big carries into the Leos defensive walls. Leos still looked threatening in attack with Teriyaki Ben, Bender, Harrison and Garner all carrying hard with Birdie and Bindloss doing the dog on the ground, however too many loose offloads and over complicated passages saw attacks fail particularly when Nick Burdon tried an offload between his legs. A man who struggles with a standard pass probably shouldn't attempt this at full pace.

The longer West Park stayed in the game the more confident they became and the last 10 minutes of the first half saw wave after wave of West Park attack versus the defensive wall of Leos. After one set of 20 + phases Leos vitesse de ligne finally forced a loose pass from West Parks 10 which was swooped on by Fenton Davies to go coast to coast for his 2nd try of the day. With the conversion successful Leos turned around 21-7 up at the break.

The message at the break was very much to keep going and be wary of the expected fiery start by West Park to the half. Unfortunately for Leos they ignored their own advise and having failed to deal with the kick off cleanly provided the opposition with field position in their 22 and also an early confidence boost to the visitors. Despite the Leos wall withstanding 20+ phases again the dam was finally breached with West Park crashing over, with the conversion successful it returned to a 7 point ball game.

The game was now a battle with the physicality ratcheted up by both sides with Teriyaki Ben still carrying hard supported by the timeless footwork of Tomas Bindloss in the close quarters. However it was West Park who struck next working through the phases before their left winger was put in the clear to finish in the corner, reducing Leos lead to 2 points with the final quarter ahead.

The 2s were showing patience in the oppositions 22 and after one attack was thwarted by a disputable turn over in the 22, Leos built again through a break by Jake Radcliffe and after various phases the resulting penalty was pumped into touch 5 metres out. Leos snapped and picked their way to within a metre of the try line before Fenton moved the ball to Tweddle and as the West Park defence pushed onto the more obvious threats of Tower and Teriyaki Ben outside the fly half fainted stepped and just had a enough to reach out over the try line for his 2nd of the day. The conversion was controversially awarded by the ref and then chalked off following consultation with touch judge Gabes (spot his early connections to West Park Leeds coming through) meaning Leos led by 7 with 5 minutes remaining.

Leos again failed to deal with the restart cleanly which resulted in pressure being applied to the clearance which remained in field for West Park to launch another counter that was finally snuffed out and put into touch. However the lineout was lost and then the error was compounded with Leos flooding round to the openside to defend only to leave the blindside short handed and West park took full advantage to score in the 15 metre channel and reduce the game back to 2 points prior to the conversion attempt. The kick looked good from the tee until the last few metres where it curved square onto the left had upright. Leos led by 2 with 2 minutes to go, kick deep defend hard game won was the message from the experienced heads in the group. Kick off was deep but Leos were in front of the kicker fortunately the Ref only awarded a free kick not a penalty meaning West Park opted for the scrum and not a kick deep for a lineout. From the scrum attack the ball was ripped in midfield as Perkins and Tweddle combined before Teriyaki Ben swooped on the loose ball and set of like a demented ferret up a wee drainpipe. Leos managed the remaining 40 seconds before the ball was hoofed off the pitch to the sound of the final whistle.

A hard thought bonus point win in the end which keeps Leos in the tittle shake up in the Merit League but also secured the local bragging rights as the players entered the bar...just though only just!

Match details

Match date

Sat 25 Jan 2020

Kickoff

14:15

Meet time

13:00

Location

Competition

Northern & Western League

League position

4
Leodiensian 2
8
West Park Leeds 2
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Club Sponsor - Onebright
Club Sponsor - Looseheadz
Sponsor - Talos Recycling
Club Sponsor - MTech IT (Leeds) Ltd
Shirt Sponsor - Samuel Grant Group Ltd
Club Sponsor - Matt Chapman Property Development Ltd
Player / Coach Sponsor - Leos Catering & Function Room
Player Sponsor - Leeds Food Tours
Player Sponsor - Alfies Bar & Kitchen
Shirt Sponsor - Rentokil Initial PLC