Leos v Selby

Leos Occasionals, made up of a mix of vets and new players, welcomed Selby to Crag Lane on what will probably be the last game of 2012 to be played in such good conditions. Selby are always a good team to line up against – playing the game in good spirits and having a mix of experience and youth. This season was no different with plenty of familiar faces and some new ones donning the green, yellow and red shirts. After some plundering of his team by people further up the pecking order, Captain CJ was delighted to still manage to put out a team which unusually boasted 100% forwards in the pack and 100% backs in the back line despite being light on numbers overall.
Leos elected to play with the sun at their backs. This decision was soon rewarded with all high balls being dealt with superbly. Carl and JP Murphy combined to return the opening kickoff for good yards and the backline of Tim Leslie, Tim Martin and Si Burton dealt well under pressure when the dangerous Selby flyhalf was trying to gain territory.

5 minutes of wrestling between the two packs saw Leos creeping slowly into the Selby half, breaking the gainline repeatedly around the fringes and tiring the opposition pack. Scrum half Rob Shaw got quick ball at the bottom of the slope and spotted the opportunity to break. The ball went through the hands of the entire backline, including a lovely move with Tim Martin coming off the opposite wing, before Si Burton showed a clean pair of heels to his opposite number to go around on the outside. With the fullback closing him down towards the corner, Si took the safe option and passed the ball back inside to Scotty who had overtaken people 20 years his junior in the hunt for a try. Scotty touched down for what was a well worked try with Tim Leslie slotting the extras from out wide.

Leos went about building the phases with their strike runners getting over the gainline time after time. The front row of Jimmy, Gareth and Dave gave us one of the most mobile front rows in memory and that extra pace and support in the forwards began to tell as Leos recycled their possession well. The second Leos try came on the stroke of 10 minutes with Alun Gabriel showing a bit of magic by drawing two defenders to create the overlap for his backs and Si Burton went over in the corner for a deserved try. Tim Leslie slotted the extras.

The set piece was going well. Carl and George were winning our own ball in the lineouts and competing strongly for theirs, while the Leos tight 5 performed admirably against an experienced Selby pack. A period of Selby possession, although mainly in their own half, saw some strong carries from their pack and some snipes from their backs reminded Leos not to get complacent over their strong start. A good counter ruck combo from CJ and Carl led to a quick counter and a penalty against Selby for lying over the ball. The resulting quick thinking from Rob, which may or may not have been a 100% legal tap penalty, put Gareth through some tired Selby forwards on their own line and over for the try.

On conceding a third try against the run of play Selby’s heads went down, and over the next 10 minutes Phil Parker and Niall Monk showed a lovely balance between power and pace and tore the Selby backline apart. Phil managed to pick up 3 tries before half time and Tim and Scotty shared kicking duties. Some rousing words from the Selby captain before their next kick off saw another period of strong Selby possession, this time deep in Leos territory. Some unbalanced Leos defending saw Selby flood numbers on the blind side and bundle over in the corner for a well work and well deserved try. The conversion was scored by their young fly half and Leos ended an otherwise good half on a low with Selby’s spirits raised and looking hungry to get back in the game.

The second half started well, with Carl catching Gabe’s kick off (making it at least 1 a game this year) and ensuring we started the game with the ball in our hands just outside the Selby 22. Both forwards and backs attacked a resolute Selby defence but made little yards. Clearly Selby had only catch up on their minds. A half break from Niall was quickly recycled by Rob to Gabes. Spying a gap between 2 forwards loitering in the back line, CJ placed himself in the way of Gabes intended pass out wide and showed an increasingly rare turn of pace to cross the line for his first. Tim, again, got the conversation.

More excellent work from the backs, ably supported by the forwards, led to George Crowther crossing for a well deserved try on 50 minutes. Shortly after this, CJ forgot he was playing rugby and nutmegged a Selby player with a spilt ball before again kicking it beyond their full back and dropping down on the ball for his second of the game. CJ thought it was footballing brilliance, everyone else said he was a tit.

A period of Selby pressure led to them getting their second after their ginger winger showed a great speed and strength through the tackle to break some sloppy defending before offloading the ball to another to cross over the line.

The last 10 minutes of the game saw Jimmy Capell sent down the wing from 20 yards out for a try in the corner before being rucked out of the game by JP Murphy’s knee just after the restart. Jimmy claimed he was ok afterwards, but then referred to “last Friday’s game against Bramley” at the bar afterwards. Either he is moonlighting for another team midweek or he was a little concussed. George was the beneficiary of a final break from the back line, with Phil popping a pass to CJ outside and CJ popping it back inside out of the tackle (leg possibly in touch!) to George who finished well. The game ended with the score being slightly favourable to Leos. Despite deserving the victory, we got the rub on a few key decisions and Selby can feel hard done by for at least 2 of the tries. Overall it was a big improvement over previous week, in particular the support play around the park.

Thanks to Selby for making the trip across, playing throughout in good spirits and sticking around for a few beers afterwards.