Déjà Vu all over again, but with improvement

Leo’s had eschewed a warm up in favour of debating the reliability of players and whether JP Murphy would overcome the sniffles and appear like a knight in shining armour to save the day. Harrogate eventually lent us a player and a very fast furious and entertaining game was commenced by the Wynneree, who had turned up without a watch!
Clearly faster, fitter and better organised the juvenile Harrogate team set about running Leo’s ragged once they had secured possession. This week it took a little longer as Leo’s were committed at the break down and retaining possession better. Dr Tom, Neil, and Si H were battering the contact zone to slow things down while the backs were chasing and harrying to stop the visitors from cutting loose. Eventually, having spun the ball wide with pace Harrogate uncovered the flaw in Leo’s defence; pace and numbers, to score out wide. Another couple of quick tries followed as they realised Leo’s couldn’t cope under such a lively assault with excellent support running. Up front, where Scotty had stepped up to prop there was a challenging afternoon’s scrummaging, which improved when James H admitted he could prop and Scotty retired to the blind side. With the germ of a game plan in mind Leo’s began a period of ascendancy with some good lineout ball and masterly driving mauls. Patsy Palmer, Rob B and Dave H added power and the fringing back row broke off with speed. Rob Shaw and Tim Martin ran close lines with the centres boshing up as only Phil and Kenroy can, close to the contact areas to ensure retention. Just before the break Kenroy galloped through, was held up and found supporting pack numbers who surrounded Patsy and drove him over for a score. Scotty added the extras and Leo’s had their heads high at half time.
The game continued at a brutal pace in the second half and the war of attrition, which suited Leo’s, caused the loss of three Harrogate youths to injury. Leo’s themselves had been augmented by JP Snuffles and the tardy Si Winters. A 15 minute spell of pick and drive recycling with excellent support runners and pushers kept Harrogate pinned back and starved of possession. The Wynneree kept the game honest and following another Dave H to Dr Tom lineout the pack drove towards the line and Si H peeled off to crash over for Leo’s second try. Harrogate kept up the pressure and pace however and with their speed of mind, hands and feet twisted the Leo’s defence this way and that before running in a couple more tries. Leo’s heads never went down and some sterling defence, (and Neil Back-esque scrum offending from Scotty) kept the colts out for long periods until they inevitably succumbed to a final try.
The senior Harrogate players thanked Leo’s for a sporting an exceedingly competitive encounter admitting that their backs, recent colts from a National League club, will run riot at this level with decent possession but we really gave them a battle and they certainly knew they’d been in one. Up front it was a ferocious contest, as was the scrambling defence and Leo’s can hold their head up that they never caved in and demonstrated significant improvement on last week’s first outing .