Gallant Leo’s finally overrun

Cleck graciously donated two competitive guests in the shape of Finlay the hooker and Phil the centre, both of whom played with Leo’s pride and commitment throughout. Having won the toss and elected to charge down the not inconsiderable slope Billy waved his troops onwards.
The first half was played mainly in the Cleck half but stout defence, last ditch tackles and the occasional wrong option meant that territory and possession was never turned into points. Grant harried from 9 and the returning routundity of Wynnie pulled the strings at 10. Guest Phil and Aspirin tried their best but the backs just couldn’t break through, the closest chance found Jon Mills driven back from an inch short. Up front the front 5 were once again peerless with the “against the head” count nudging double figures. Drives and support were in abundance from Thommo, Si and Westwood, and the back row, energised by the youthful Winters, was a constant menace. Finlay regularly found his men in the line as pressure was brought to bear on the home defence. Erratic refereeing helped Cleck on occasions but Leo’s had enough of the ball to have done more that turn round scoreless.
Looking up the slope at halftime there was still enough confidence to spur the tiring visitors into the second half fray. Constant pressure was resisted with brave tackling from everyone, even Scotty and Wynnie. Ray came on for batman to make a nuisance of himself in the loose as the game became more fractious with Cleck wondering if they would ever break through. With the wagons in a circle the heroic defence continued, along with the occasional breakout. Tom S was one broken tackle away from a score, but the silver fox of a fullback hauled him down, and Carl wore himself out with another uphill charge. Thommo and Scotty received some brutality before the referee finally awarded a kickable penalty to the home side. After 70 minutes of blood and thunder rugby it was a reflection on the Leo’s performance that the home side saw this as the only way to get on the scoreboard.
Leo’s rallied again and the game became more open as they visitors strove for a score. The gaps, exhaustion and age left a couple of opportunities for Cleck to score two late tries to give the score line a slightly undeserved margin of defeat for the battered, bruised but somewhat proud Leo’s.