Ponte Away Match Report

A second half blitzing ensured that Leos suffered a humbling start to the Merit League season, going down 46-14 to a physical and direct Pontefract side. Whilst the day was not without its positive elements there is much to be done and improved upon if Leos are to repeat the strong seasons of the pre-Covid era.

Fielding a decent-sized squad of 19-20 players, Leos actually began the match strongly. Straight from the kick off new recruit Dan Johnson seized upon indecision in the Ponte ranks to regather the ball and set up a strong attacking position. A couple of secure phases later the ball was moved wide to Jack Evans, always a threat with ball in hand. The fullback sliced through the Pontefract tacklers to score and give Leos a dream start. Mweti Muriithi added a good conversion from the right of the posts to make it 7-0.

Once Ponte shook themselves off and got hold of the ball their gameplan became apparent; hard, direct and short forward drives leading to the ball going wide, where they possessed a combination of size and pace which centres Nick Burdon and Tom Bindloss quite understandably struggled to contain. The Ponte defence was also aggressive and showed a strong rugby league influence, making it hard for Leos to generate quick ball and retain possession for extended periods. Steadily Ponte were able to get on top, scoring two tries to make it 7-12.

Leos then had a spot of luck and took full advantage. After a good kick chase had penned Pontefract into their own 22 the home team attempted to clear their lines, but the kick was charged down by flanker Dan Johnson. The fresher and debutant gathered to score beneath the posts. Mweti knocked the conversion over and put Leos back in front.

Sadly this was as good as it got for Leos and we failed to trouble the scorers for the remainder of the match. Ponte crossed again before half time to make it 14-19 at the interval, during which various changes were made including your writer, which in part explains the paucity of the second half reporting.

The primary explanation however is that there wasn’t much good to write about, save for a few sparkling passages of play when Leos managed to keep hold for a few phases and stretch the Ponte defence, albeit without scoring. Brothers Bender were instrumental, leading the team in defence and showing silky hands in attack, whilst scrum half Mweti Muriithi stood up gamely to some physical treatment by the Ponte defence and moved the ball well. Man of the match went to Dan Johnson, who showed real potential on his debut and coped really well with the physicality of the game. (Obviously we will need to keep him in the 2nd XV for quite a few weeks for...acclimitisation… before he’s ready for 1st XV…)

Other positives were the set piece, which coped as well as could be expected with a strong opposition pack and held its own especially at the line out, and also that when Leos did manage to get the forwards pods sorted and organised the subsequent possession retention created opportunities. Finally, no proper match report would be complete without mentioning Bindloss’ scything break right at the end, selling the fullback with a glorious dummy then realising he still had half the field to go and deciding that was too far. Alas, his kick trundled out the back of the field and the game came to an end.

Congratulations to Pontefract, who were deserved winners – their number 8, who scored three tries should certainly be playing at a higher level! -- and good luck for your season until we see you again. From Leos’ perspective the main takeaway from this match was the importance of solid, committed defence and maintaining organisation in phase-play. With those two elements in place Leos have the potential to build a really good side...starting next week, at home to Ossett 2nd XV. #WeGoAgain