Leo’s New Model Army defeat York’s Cavaliers

CJ assembled a strong cast of players for the match against York, who are always a good outfit and have given us some memorable battles over the years. Before kickoff Nick Burdon, who is becoming more and more like Victor Hugo’s character Gavroche Thenardier as the season progresses, came cap in hand ravenously eyeing up the impressive talent roster. Thankfully we were still left with a full compliment after he took a five finger discount.

Before the game the Leos players shared some strong and blunt words after a string of disappointing defeats against beatable opposition. The season-long theme of slow and disorganised starts had to end and the traditional Leos set piece and forward dominance had to re-emerge to give our backs something to work with.

Leos kicked off the first half with Carl catching Blakey’s kick off and, after some strong leg drive, managed to position Leos on the York 22. The pack all drove hard at the fringes to bring in the defenders and gain the hard yards before quick ball out through the backs hands put Tim Martin over in the corner. A real team try within the 5 minute mark and signs of good things to come.

York, clearly annoyed to have been caught napping, set off with a period of good pressure and started working through the phases. Leos were getting pinged for infringements, both real and perceived, at the breakdown and for offside in the backs but only had themselves to blame for ignoring the vocal ref. A few infringements later and the York 10 found himself in kicking range and elected to take a shot for the posts and, in a most un-sportman like manner, did so successfully. 5-3.

York kicked off and with the ball back in their hands Leos started to enact their game plan. Forwards and backs alike ground away at the York defence, making yards and working our way up the field. George Crowther MD took a blow to the head at the bottom of a ruck and earned himself a rest on the sidelines. A prime opportunity to shout “physician, heal thyself” went missing for the second time in as many weeks. Note to self - must work harder on player based jokes during the week if to retain role as captain. It won’t be long before someone else gets a phone package with unlimited text messages and my position ends up under threat.

The set piece was working very well, with Cadge, Jimmy and Onz showing real dominance in the scrum, and Tom Goff and Carl likewise at the lineout. The latest foray into the York 22 was rewarded with a penalty for a York forward lying all over the ball. CJ called for the lineout and Blakey ably but the ball on the 5m line. A great rolling maul saw Si Haworth crash over for a deserved try. Tim Leslie added the conversion with a lovely kick from out wide.

Another period of York pressure followed, with the opposition holding onto the ball well and making slow in roads in the Leos defence. Their number 8 in particular was making good yards regularly around the fringes. Leos stayed organised and resolute. One of the most pleasing aspects of the first half was the defence in this period which saw phase after phase of the York attacked slowed down and driven back. We had numbers on the right sides and were making our first up tackles where in previous weeks we were lazy. The whole team really fronted up. The upshot of the defensive effort was another kick at goal from the York 10 rather than trusting in their pack to do the business in the tight.

After catching the kick off, hard drives from Phil the Power, Cadge, Carl and Poll and good footwork from Billy, Tim(s) and Niall, saw Leos again making really good yards and they were soon camped on the York 22 once more. Poll in particular had a few burst breaks through open play and off the back of the scrum and was proving too much for the York defenders. Leos had a penalty after a York infringement at the breakdown just inside their own 22. Poll stepped up for the crash ball. With two York props routed to the ground bracing for the hit, Poll showed some lovely quick feet to glide between them. Tim Leslie once again added the extras.

The half ended with a Phil Parker try, showing off his footballing skills to dribble it through the York backline and then win the footrace to fall on the loose ball. Half time 24 – 6. The traditional team talk was impassioned as, despite the lead, the York team were clearly a good outfit and the game was much closer than the score line suggested. Any complacency would be punished and our ill-discipline had cost us 6 points and a lot of lost territory. Half time also saw Gary come into the pack for Scotty and new boy Greg Kilvington come on for Tim Martin.

The second half was very similar to the first. York pushed to make a strong start and were making some big tackles across the park as Leos looked to work their way out of their own half after the restart. A little bit of aerial ping pong broke out, with Blakey, Billy, Gabes and Tim Leslie getting involved in trying to win the battle for territory. One of the more memorable moments involved Billy popping the ball to Gabes after catching an up and under. Gabes looked to his left with the York players charging down on him, expecting to see his trusty backline alongside him, only to see 20 yards of empty field. The facial expression that went with the realisation that heavy contact was imminent was probably worth the £5 subs by itself.

A botched York kick from their own 22 landed in no-mans land. Reacting quickest, Greg Kilvington did a glorious pick up off his laces to run through a gap and score his first Leos try beneath the posts. Great instinct considering the 12 years he has had away from the game - a real poachers try. Scotty added the extras. Gary Ambler, Si Haworth, Scotty and Jimmy Cappell worked tirelessly doing the dirty forwards work so Carl, Poll and I can hang out with the back gelling our hair, checking appearance in the mirror, talking about shoes etc. Gary even made a rare break which saw Phil Parker set up for his second of the day.

The age old dispute over who are the better rugby players, forwards or backs, was settle on the 70th minute when the ball went through the hands of George (back row), Cadge (prop) and Carl (back row), all of whom drew their man before passing the ball, to set CJ (back row) in for an unopposed 20 yard trundle over the white line. I don’t think I have ever seen Cadgey so smug. One could question what 4 backs were doing in the backline but, thankfully, no one did.

The final 10 minutes arrived and saw a length of the field Carl Stephenson try after hitting a gap between two defenders and breaking the line. After touching down he subbed himself off with a mixture of cramp and The Gay before weeping gently on the sidelines for the remainder of the game.

York threw everything at Leos for the remaining 8 or so minutes (it definitely felt longer) after a deserved try. Leos repelled them well with some more solid defence seeking a moral clean sheet (who kicks penalties in social rugby?). Tom Goff, who had been stellar in the lineout and in the loose all day, was relishing in the frenetic finale to the game. Responding to Gabes call to kick it out on the next play, Tom furiously shouted “we do not end the game like that” before promptly catching the ball and kicking it out ending the game. Like that.

A great team effort from every man on the pitch in Leos colours made the difference between two very equal squads. The week before York at drawn at Burley 2s who beat us earlier in the year. It just goes to show we have the capability and can roll with the big boys when we put the effort it.
CJ