New Year, same old Leo’s

Thankfully Barnsley had a few spares and so Corey, Pete and Steve came across to allow a competitive and sporting 14 v 15 game to proceed.

For the first 10 minutes the 14 men stood firm and more than matched the efforts of the visitors. Good possession was secured with tight support running and good clear-out work from the pack to allow Tim M at 10 to dance and spin in and out of trouble before letting the rest of the backs touch the ball. This early exuberance was punctured however by a piece of opportunist wing play and a missed knock on from the Cadgeree giving the West Country wizard the only option of giving away a penalty try. What followed was twenty minutes of great rugby from Barnsley, sprinkled with some outrageous luck (or unlucky if you are Tim Leslie) as cruel bounces or spilled possession found its way into the direct running visitors backs for the concession of another four tries. Leo’s rallied though and with Scotty rolling back the years to soar at 2 in the line some good catch and drives wore down Barnsley and upped Leo’s confidence. JP Ashton ran in hard and straight. Rob b supported well with Neil and Stevo bashing up too. Eventually good possession position and space allowed Tim M to scamper in out wide as Leo’s got on the scoreboard with the last move of the half.
Danders were up, guest Pete opted to stay as he was enjoying himself while Corey and Steve were replaced by Jake and Josh. Big D came over from benching duties for a rumble as Leo’s looked to win the second half! This they proceeded to do with a committed and spirited performance against a tiring Barnsley. The Leo’s Plan A was adhered to with the pack working their collective socks off with drives and clearing to eventually release the backs. Barnsley defence was firm and while most of the second half was played in their half they seldom looked like conceding. Scotty was now throwing in, to Neil, who was secure. The drives were making good yards and confidence was high. A couple of kickable penalties were quite rightly eschewed for touch finders from the Tims as Leo’s turned the screw. Finally Barnsley’s defence creaked and Stevo crashed through. More classic forwards play kept the visitors on the back foot until the final move of the game when their elusive fullback made a break and support was on hand for a Barnsley try to make the second half score a respectable 7-5 to Leo’s!
Thanks to Barnsley for travelling with sufficient numbers and excellent spirit to enable a fine game of social rugby to take place, to the enjoyment of all.