Leodiensian 4th XV v Castleford 3rd XV.

With the visiting hordes arriving Leo’s few grew to enough with Tony McW crawling out from beneath Mrs McW’s thumb, Patsy declining a trip to Huddersfield, and Grant offering his services after his morning jog, a 1hr 40m half marathon! Cas had 21!
Leo’s kicked off and the opening exchanges were fierce but disorganised as both teams struggled to get into their strides. The fact that Cas never really gelled all afternoon despite some good individual performances was the main reason for the score-line; it never felt that easy! Early pressure from the home side led to Newnsy squandering clean possession with an up and under that has Carl howling, Cas fumbling, and Patsy touching the loose ball down! Cas came straight back with their more League style of play and had Leo’s defending for long periods before a breakaway by the home side allowed Carl to breeze in out wide. More pressure from Cas and their decision to kick for 3 points instead of adventurously going for 7 at a penalty 20 yards out indicated the limit of their ambitions, or their fear of the home sides defence! Kenroy had to leave the field with an ankle injury but JP had finally arrived with Chiddy so the numbers held up.
The forwards were doing the simple things right with Simon, Tony and Gav making hard yards for the supporting and stepping Scotty, along with eager Kinga adding extra distance to the forward forays. The backs were direct against the strong Cas tackling. A third try before halftime gave Leo’s a cushion of sorts but the team to score first after the break would more than likely gain the upper hand. This turned out to be the visitors as a lack of attention and tackling allowed them to score out wide. The pack continued it’s hard work, with Al Goode in for Gav (one half) Tinch, as for the second week running a decent amount of turnover ball was secured. The scrums were solid but the line-outs, suffering from Scotty’s Cas Vegas based calls, relied on an International Basketball player flapping at 2 to win possession. CJ’s flaptastic performance brought at tear to this aging wordsmiths eye!
Eventually the glut of possession was turned into a well earned return of points with Grant the Crab scuttling over for three, one of which may even have involved running straight. Dean (2), Chiddy, and Tom were the other scorers. A lack of a tee made converting difficult for Scotty and Aspirin and the introduction of a “ball holder” didn’t help when The Crab lined up his head up directly between the ball and the posts on one occasion! Cas worked hard but lacked enough cohesion to turn effort into reward. Less chelping and more teamwork to bring on the youngsters may help. But their bench/fans did provide an amusing moment in the second half when President Jim came over to ask if anyone owned the Ferrari that was blocking the car park: “Own one? I don’t even think any of us have stolen one” was the reply!
Results elsewhere leave the 4th XV as the only unbeaten side in the club, (after 2 games!), a record that will most certainly be challenged next week when they take on their nemesis team from Roundhegians next week.