Old Crocs Away Match Report

Skipper Billy Marsh praised the courage and tenacity of his players after a spirited Leos side was ultimately overwhelmed by a powerful Old Crossleyans 2s. Despite matching their opponents in open play, Leos had no answer to Crossleyans' destructive scrummaging, which ultimately turned the match decisively in favour of the home side.

Appropriately for the club which produced Brian Moore, Crocs fielded a pack which was physical, well drilled and sizeable from 1 to 8, with several of them clearly having experience at a good level of rugby. The backs followed a similar pattern, which was perhaps helpful in a way as Leos lined up with the rather unconventional centre pairing of Si Dowling and Billy Marsh.

On possibly the largest rugby pitch ever created Crocs had the best of the opening stages, their direct and hard running making life difficult for Leos in defence. The first chance came around ten minutes in when a hard running pod of Crocs' forwards burst through off the back of their shortened lineout, only being hauled down just short by some desperate Leos tackling. At the resulting ruck the ball shot out, Kenny Parsons dived on it (receiving a boot to the head for his trouble) but the resulting ruck became unplayable. The referee called a scrum to Crocs, which set an ominous tone for the day. Throughout the match there was nothing, in terms of technique etc, especially wrong with Leos' scrummaging; the lads were simply unable to handle the Crocs' pack, which possessed a massive size and weight advantage. Although Leos were able to win the occasional scrum it was always going backwards, with the price being a severe trampling to number eight Harry Elliott's hands.

Thus it proved five metres from Leos' line, with the Crocs' pack grinding inexorably forward and Leos' scrum fatally fracturing. Eventually a desperate Leos' boot kicked the ball out of the scrum, with Leodiensian cynicism being suitably punished with a penalty try.

Leos actually reacted to this bad start really quite well, being able to stick phases together and finding that unlike at the scrum they were more than able to match Crocs at the breakdown. That being said the gains were hard fought, as exemplified by a monstrous hit on Si Dowling by the Crocs' flanker. Despite the fierce Crocs resistance Leos managed to enjoy a long period of possession camped in the Crocs' 22, but were unable to cross the line due to some fine defence from the home side. Eventually however the pressure told as some fine hands from fly half Ben Pearce released fullback Stu Norton to cross out wide. Pearce was unable to add the conversion, leaving the score at 7-5 to Crocs. This was the way it stayed until half time, after 40 minutes of blood-and-thunder, ferociously contested rugby.

The second half proceeded in a similar fashion, with Leos having the better of the opening 10 minutes but being unable to score. Perhaps the best chance came when a smart inside ball from Billy Marsh put Luke Wyman through a yawning gap, the young flanker racing to within 10 metres before the attack was snuffed. Although the scrum was not functioning well, the lineout was a solid source of possession, with Gregor Belfield and Wyman winning their own ball and the former frequently disrupting Crocs' throw. A superb defensive effort all across the park left Crocs looking devoid of ideas at times, as Leos' combative tackling snuffed out their direct approach. Big hits from Harry Elliott and Si Dowling led the way, with Lewis Morris and Chris Bamber also offering stubborn resistance.

As the second half ground on however, inevitably Leos began to tire. The combination of having so much hard tackling to do and the seemingly endless scrummages sapped Leos' energy and Crocs slowly but surely took control. Trips to the Crocs' half became less frequent and when Leos were pinged at the ruck right in front of their own sticks, the Crocs skipper took the understandable if somewhat un-Corinthian decision to kick for goal. Unlike last week at Selby Leos' luck was not in and the kick sailed straight down the middle, making it 10-5 to Crocs.

Leos continued to battle valiantly but in vain. The Crocs' scrum became even more difficult to stop and yielded their second and decisive try when one of their forwards plunged over from point blank range. The kick was good, leaving the final score 17-5 in Crocs' favour.

As cliché as it may be, there were a ton of positives to take from this match. Crocs were a strong and physical outfit, with a pack of forwards far superior to that of most teams Leos will play. The fact Leos were able to live with them for almost 70 minutes is testament to the team's determination and battling spirit. Strong performances from 1-15 made it almost impossible to pick a MOTM. Next week sees Leos at last return to home fixtures, with Huddersfield YMCA the proposed opposition. Leos will be hoping to arrest their recent run of results, with only a few games remaining before the Christmas break.