Leo's 4th XV v Harrogate Pirates,

On possibly the hottest day of the year Leo’s were welcomed to Claro Road with the dreaded announcement that as The Pirates were the only team playing we were granted an appearance on Yorkshire’s largest pitch!With most Leo’s tired from just walking round it, in front of the main stand, and into the changing rooms the warm up was limited to keeping cool in the shade and chatting. Al and The Crab arrived latish and with the factor 8 applied to some balding heads Leo’s kicked off their season’s opener with the usual suspects jogging after the ball.
What followed however was an excellent display of committed rugby in both attack and defence as the new look Leo’s 4ths worked their socks off against a well organised set of Pirates. The new look came from one new player, Stubbsy, and some positional changes from last season; Gav and Newnsy to the pack, Simon to the backs, and Scotty slimmed down to below 16 stone for the first time this century! The forwards worked well to secure possession time and again, with the turnover count into double figures by the end of the game. The backs tried a little too hard early on and a lack of slickness led to possession and position being wasted, but no lack of effort or spirit. After a few wasted chips and grubbers the ball stayed in the hand long enough for Chiddy to find space to ghost round the outside for a try. The Pirates replied with try of their own which looked a tad generous in the build up from the generally good referee. Leo’s responded before the break with The Crab scuttling in a sideways direction to loop in out wide. At 10-5 the game was far from won and an inspired second half performance was requested from JP.
This he received with the pack working overtime to win good clean ball for Grant and Al to conjure up a succession of well supported backs moves. Carl and Simon combined well in midfield with the wingers offering pace out (very) wide! Support runners appeared when required and pressure was continually applied to the tiring Pirates. Newnsy, Gav and Stubbsy all scored tries but it was the all-round team effort that impressed the most. Ball carriers made themselves available, clearing out and ball security was surprisingly polished and when held up the ball was usually driven on for extra hard yards by the tireless forwards with a front five offering the bulk and security while the back three, with Matt W relishing the 8 role, constantly getting under the Pirates eyepatches. Everyone made a telling ball carrying contribution in addition to hard team graft and Chiddy added a late second try for himself, and the team’s 6th in the dying moments as the Pirates, who never gave up, tried to be too adventurous near their own line.
An excellent game of fully committed sporting rugby ended with Kinga being stuffed in the drink-off! If the team can maintain a degree of continuity in availability and performance it could well turn out to be a very enjoyable season.