Porter carries Leo’s to victory

Wetherby also had an ample squad which appeared to feature both Tongans and Carnegie Academics. With The Cadgeree in control a highly paced and skilled game ensued which ebbed and flowed from start to finish.
Leo’s had a competitive pack but were struggling at the breakdown against their ferocious Wetherby opponents. In the backs Tom B tried scrum half for the first time, with interesting results and there was a mixture of pace and resilience in the three quarters. With possession at its most valuable against the pacy and elusive visitors it was foolish for Leo’s to squander good ball with poor kicks or unnecessary fancy play. In the broken field running Wetherby had South Sea Island magic to taunt the Leo’s defence and following one turnover too many the visitors scored under the posts with a flowing move. Tightening up at the drives and recycling Leo’s pack worked well to give the backs some ball with Tom, Dave and Jim to the fore but to little early effect. Poor rucking gave Wetherby more ball and their backs repeated their speedy scoring move although the conversion was missed. Only 12-0 down and plenty of spirit from Leo’s gave hope. Scotty tried to resurrect the classic Leo’s maul but Wetherby were solid and virtually immovable. The front five were well set against the sizable visitors, and even Brooklyn Red stepped up for a shift. From a rock solid scrum Tom B darted blind and sprinted over with The Porter delivering the extras.
It was clear at the break that the forwards needed to up their game and not get turned over. Support running and possession security was critical. The backs had enough skill to make good use of any decent ball. With tourette Jim’s swear words ringing in their ears Leo’s set about the task. Carl secured kick off ball, Neil S added pace of which his winger dad would have been proud and Wetherby was on the back foot. Plan A was executed efficiently by the pack, with some added assistance from the backs. Starved of ball the visitors got a little tetchy at the breakdown but The Cadgeree kept a lid on proceedings. Forward drives were backed up by hard running backs play and the elusive Tim M sliced through and a 7 pointer gave Leo’s the lead. Wetherby struck back immediately and their backs cut loose to score again and retain the lead. Leo’s response was spirited as Blakey, Nial and Ports tackled strongly in midfield and attacked with verve. A Wetherby forward was despatched to the bin for an elbow and a second was lucky not to join him for a shoulder charge on Charlie D who was rampaging after a kick. Leo’s held their nerve and self control to work the ball through the phases and create enough space for Ports to score and add the extra, giving Leo’s a 2 point lead and 8 minutes to defend it.
This they did with harrying defence from the backs and strong forward play at the contact area as Leo’s secured a well earned victory.