Cleck Away Match Report

Two tries from Jack Evans and one from Joe McCartney (No Beard) gave Leos a narrow victory in a scrappy, slow game at Cleckheaton. In a match where neither team played especially well, Leos did just enough to grind out the result despite Cleckheaton banging on their door in the final minutes.

This had all the hallmarks of a classic 3rd XV match, including a heavy, sloping field, blustery conditions and two teams playing a rather unflamboyant style of rugby. Playing down the slope in the first half, Leos suffered an early blow when dynamic 10 Joe McCartney (Beard) broke his finger in a tackle and, with no backs replacements available, had to move to fullback and be replaced at fly half by Rich Edgar. Undeterred by this early disruption, Leos set about taking the game to Cleck and enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges. As a result, Leos were able to open the scoring when quick hands through the backs put Jack into space. The pacey centre made no mistake, outsprinting the Cleckheaton tacklers to score beneath the posts. Undeterred by his injury, Joe McCartney (Beard) knocked over the conversion.

A fierce battle between the two packs dominated much of the rest of the first half, with a seemingly endless series of well-matched scrums taking place in part due to messy handling on both sides. The pedestrian tempo of the game was compounded by the rather laissez-faire refereeing of the breakdown, which allowed all sorts of nonsense to go on and slowed the game down significantly. Cleckheaton adapted to this quicker than Leos did, with the visitors becoming frustrated and losing their way somewhat. Despite this difficult period Leos struck again after half an hour, with Rich Edgar setting off another fine backs move which resulted in Joe McCartney (No Beard) streaking through to score out wide. Joe McCartney (Beard) was unable to add the extras, giving Leos a 12-0 lead.

The aforementioned frustration crept back in however, with Leos frequently falling foul of the referee, in particular conceding multiple penalties for offside. This gave Cleck decent field position and after hammering at Leos for some time, one of their players was able to bulldoze his way over for a deserved score. No conversion was added.

Despite this setback Leos slowly began to dominate the half. The scrum was solid and although unable to steal Cleck’s ball, the Leos pack were able to put the home side under serious pressure in this phase and also at the line-out, where Leos’ number eight Sammy Parmenter was a constant menace and did indeed manage to steal Cleck’s throw on several occasions. At some point during this period of control, Richard “Tricky” Carter decided to play fly half and put a chip kick in, which nobody chased due to sheer surprise and for which he was deservedly rewarded with the Hot Dog Costume post-match. This had no bearing whatsoever on the outcome of the match but it is essential that it be noted for posterity.

Leos also tightened up their discipline and with Cleck now incurring the referee’s wrath, as the half came to a close Leos found themselves deep into opposition territory. A thunderous driving maul brought Leos to within touching distance of the Cleckheaton line, with desperate home defence resisting several pick n’ drives before skipper Billy Marsh vocally claimed a score, with Kenny Parsons and Tricky piling on top of him in support. The referee however was unmoved and ruled that Marsh had not been able to ground the ball, blowing immediately for half time afterwards. Score: 12-5 to Leos.

At half time the discussion was about maintaining what was going well (the defence, which had been excellent) and tightening up the bad things (discipline and forcing passes needlessly). Tricky came off and was replaced by JP Murphy who went on to produce a solid performance, acquitting himself well in the scrum and defensively.

Owing perhaps due to the heavy pitch and increasing fatigue, the second half was an attritional affair with few clear opportunities for either side to score. Leos’ pack battled hard for field position throughout, with big Chris Cadge and Sammy “Don’t let Jesus through!” Parmenter presenting a serious handful for the Cleck defenders. Possibly the highlight however was Adam Ketteringham deceiving the home defenders and charging twenty metres down the wing, a front row in full flight being indisputably the finest sight in rugby union.

As gloriously 3rd XV as all this attrition was however it wasn’t keeping the scoreboard moving. Fortunately however Leos received some deserved luck on that front when a Cleckheaton kick was charged down by Jack Evans, who recovered the resulting loose ball to score. Joe McCartney (Beard) added to extras to push Leos’ lead out to 19-5 with around twenty minutes remaining.

Rather than turning the screw towards the end however, Leos almost became the architects of their own demise. After Sammy Parmenter tore through the Cleck defence only to be brought back for a knock on at the earlier scrum, Cleckheaton took control of the last quarter. This dominance was assisted by Leos making a series of tactical errors, in particular failing to clear their lines when in their own half. From this came Cleckheaton’s second try, when a botched Leos exit gave them good field position and their livewire scrum half dived over under the posts for a converted score. Cleckheaton then piled on the pressure in search of an equalising try. Victory for Leos was almost snatched away when Cleck made a searing break deep into the Leos’ 22, only to be foiled by some scrambling defence and then an outstanding cover tackle by captain Billy Marsh on the Cleck 9. Despite their desperate efforts, Cleckheaton could not breach the Leos’ line and the visitors enthusiastically celebrated a hard-fought victory when the final whistle went.

It is probably fair to say that this match will not go down as one of the greatest of all time. However, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t enjoyable and hard fought. Ultimately Leos came away with the win and remain unbeaten in the 2020s. No Man of the Match was announced, although personally I thought Sammy Parmenter and Jack Evans were the stand out performers. Next week sees a big local derby as Leos travel to West Park Leeds, a game which everyone will be up for and definitely shouldn’t be missed!