Occasionals slightly superior, occasionally!

A disparate 20 or so souls assembled at Bedquilts and nervously faced the challenge, of the long march to the pitch. Early exhaustion may have been the reason for a disjointed first quarter which was surprising considering the talent on display. The pack were more than a match for the inexperienced Mods front five and the scrums and lineouts were both rich veins of supply for the Leo’s backs. It was at the breakdown and in broken field running where the home side had more success and Leo’s lacked cohesion. Too much possession was squandered by either lack of support or too much individual enthusiasm. Cadgey and CG struggled to bring the troops into a semblance of discipline and scrambling defence was often required to keep Mods out, with Tim Martin starring in the never say die defensive duties.
Eventually there was some decent Plan A work from the pack as Mods were driven back. Dave G had an off day with the boot though and too many touch finders didn’t and territory was lost. Finally enough coordinated play from Will, the pack and finally The Maltese Falcon resulted in a converted try for Leo’s. Mods fought back up the slope but were repelled by better organised defensive line with even Scotty eschewing his usual marshalling to actually take contact. The backs ran hard but were not finding it easy and on the half hour there was a repeat of the first try as The Falcon swooped through a gap to score and Scotty convert. The subs rolled on and off. Tim Leslie pulled a hamstring, a real athletes’ injury, and Will required a plaster. Lovejoy boshed, Tim M and Si B danced, while the pack supported where possible. The half finished with a text book catch and drive from a lineout for Farmer Jim to crash over and the half ended with Leo’s 19-0 up but the game by no means won.
The second half was more of a “wagons in a circle” 40 minutes for Leo’s with the exception of some daring break outs from Fishy, Joe or Dave G. Mods piled down the slope with youthful exuberance and were only kept at bay by brave and organised defence and tenacious competing at the breakdown. Mods scored a deserved try but that was their only reward for their efforts as Leo’s slowly worked up field with ponderous calm play. Lineouts and scrums were secure and the maul was tactic of choice to keep the ball and run down time. Jon Mills ran hard at the defensive line before executing a textbook laying back of the ball, on the Mods side while the rest of his team, and the referee looked on in awe and confusion. As dusk settled across the vast expanse of Bedquilts Leo’s held on for a victory that was in no way as beautiful as the sunset.