Leos leave Selby with their heads held high.

On a beautiful sunny day Cadgey assembled 14 men to challenge the always strong Selby 4ths at their place. Kinga as the 15th man never arrived, so Selby kindly lent us a couple of boys who put in useful shifts against their mates playing for Leos. In the strong wind the game plan was short pop passes and keep it simple. The forwards picked and drove well all day with Carl leading the way, he made break after break, and where he went Leos followed. Neil won several turnovers at the fiercely competitive breakdown, where Selby got away with being on the wrong side and fringing constantly. The opening exchanges were honours even. Selby were strong up front, with some effective ball carriers making dents in the Leos defence. As the first half wore on only last ditch heroic tackling, notably from Chris at 12 and Rob in the 2nd row kept the home side from scoring. Leos also had their chances but could not quite find a way to break through the well organised home side

Cadgey marshalled his troops with his traditional forthrightness calling for more effort, and Leos answered the call. The ref was starting to ping Selby for repeated infringements and using the strong wind Leos cleared their lines well. Eventually superior fitness and size told and after several well worked phases Selby scored out wide. Their kicker then had a “Bend it like Beckham “ moment and somehow nailed a wonderful kick from the touchline despite a force 5 gale still blowing ! Jonny at 9 was doing well in difficult conditions to boss his forwards around and find his considerably older 10. Selby were offside and up very fast but occasionally the backs did get the ball, often making good ground. The boot was also used to gain field position and relieve pressure when appropriate. Chris and James drove hard in the centres; Chris may not be the biggest but he punches above his weight with Lewis Moody like complete disregard for his own safety! James on the wing did not get much ball, but when he did he was elusive and slippery evading defenders with the studied grace befitting a teacher at Leeds Grammer.

I think Selby scored again just before halftime and as a tired Leos side regrouped the Cadgersauras encouraged us to work a little harder, make our first up tackles and play for both each other and the pride in the shirt. The second stanza saw Selby s greater skills start to tell. Their bearded 9 threw a perfect mispass despite the wind and they again scored out wide. Unbowed Leos very nearly broke their duck as Carl was put in space and showed a clean pair of heals, only being tap tackled 2 yards from the line. We were sure he was in but great cover defence just stopped him and Leos creating a deserved score. After masses of effort by forwards and backs alike Leos did finally score a try as the forwards catch and drove several lineouts leading to the ever present Geordie boshing his way over the Selby line. He was ably assisted by a few Leos who drove him the last yard. Con was missed.

This fired Leos who now really had their dander up and Selby suddenly looked a little shaken. The ref was by now fed up with the home sides chelping, infringing and general play so he put them a team warning for a “ yellow for the next penalty “ Leos used their lineout well with Farmer Jim doing sterling work to judge the wind, often finding the safe hands of Neil who was having a storming game. The scrum too worked well as the front row kept Selby at bay through sheer hard work. Dave was effective in the loose carrying hard and tackling bigger boys with relish. Rob is now starting to live up to the heralded Byrom genetic ancestry and realise that at 19ish stone he is a unit. He continues to learn the finer points of the game by listening more experienced colleagues showing maturity and intelligence. He is also his own man, as when Famer Jim tried a spot of matchmaking for Rob in the pub at Ledsham after the game he was firmly but politely put in his place “ I will find my own girlfriend thank you very much!“
Eventually all Leos concerted pressure led to another drive over the line with Neil emerging with the ball and a wry smile. Con missed. The ref finally ran out of patience and yellowed a Selby forward, not before time. As tiredness told the home team ran in a couple of scores and it looked like they might run away with the game but thankfully Leos never stopped tackling and the game entered the final 10 mins as hard fought as any this season. At this point there was a slightly unsavoury moment as a Selby player misplaced a boot, the ref reacted with measured authority and only allowed the player to stay on the pitch as the game was nearly over. Generally the game was played in superb spirit with plenty of friendly banter both ways. We are grateful to the home team for lending us players to keep it even. Selby ran out deserved winners 26 – 10. Leos retired to the bar and then the favourite stop in picturesque Ledsham to enjoy a few well earned beers, or Lime and Soda if you are Cadgey!

We send our best wishes to our recovering proper scribe Scotty as he gets used to his new titanium finger joint! Doubtless when he returns his wit will be a sharp as ever, only now with straight fingers!

Man of the Match was Neil Shaw for a fine all round game topped off by a well-deserved try. Carl pushed him close with his barnstorming ball carrying and all the Leos players deserve a mention in dispatches for never giving up against a good side who played some smart attractive rugby on their lovely manicured pitches. We also learnt the reason why games are never frozen off in Selby, an underground coal mine that allegedly continues to slowly burn away merrily despite being sealed off for years, or maybe Cadgey was simply winding us all up!

Who knows where the Leos travelling band of brothers will be next week, but for today we can reflect on a thoroughly enjoyable old fashioned day out in the Selby sunshine against hard but fair opponents.