Beach weather rugby

On a day where convertible drivers were spotted with the roof down, Leos were able to come away with a home win against Cleck 4s.

Following a changing room debate about what to call ourselves, Leos got outside of some traditional T&P and something else that resembled a warm up, the game itself started at a bit of pace with Carl Stephenson making an early break, only for Billy Marsh to sink into quick sand on the break.

Leos forwards quickly asserted dominance in the scrum with Chris Cadge firmly tucking his opposite number into his back pocket and the whole eight getting a good shove on... No further than a few yards mind, as Carl took a number of chances to pick and go from the base of the scrum.

Continued pressure eventually led to a Leos try from Carl Stephenson who managed to burst over.

So far, so good, Leos managed to keep the game in their control. The backs got some good ball and made yards through Billy Adam's kick-returns at fullback and the boot of Bindloss finding some good territory. New lad Fraser Crawford also managed to get a bit of go forward.

Following a few more hoofs of the ball from the afro'ed Cleck 2nd row and good line out ball Leos gained a good position beneath the sticks before an interesting piece of footballing skill from Matt Milner gave Neil Shaw, powered by a Cadgey backpack, a chance to dive across the line

In true Leos style, the halftime talk focussed on not falling asleep in the first 10 and keeping the ball in the opposition half... 10 minutes later Cleck had 2 tries and Leos couldn't fathom why!

An unfortunate injury to Brad Balmer left Leos a man short, which certainly changed the pace of the game. Cleck brought on some fresher legs and contested well around the fringes but weren't able to cross the line, Leos kept on running but couldn't complete either.

The arm wrestle was won with Carl taking a quick tap and flying through the air with the grace of a bearded collie, dotting down for the match winner and a conversion from Fraser that maybe belonged on a slightly different pitch with shorter sticks.

Some mentions for Alex Morris who showcased a set of sashaying hips, Ed Master for some great last man tackling and Matt Milner for being a massive pain in Cleck's collective backside.

Switching from 7 to 12 whenever he fancied it Milner managed to sack almost each opposition lineout, was a constant threat over the ball and made a good 30m run despite being tackled at least 3 times on his way through. His side foot pass was also instrumental in the second try.

A good win for the 3s in the end but really should have been by a greater margin, one day it'll all click I'm sure.

The win also made it 3/3 for the club, a rare but greatly celebrated blue rinse! The open top bus trip around Alwoodley is currently with the council for consideration.