They started a rolling maul and, deep into injury time, got the try that levelled the scores. Their kicker, one Alberto di Bernado, slotted the conversion, and the Pirates had won, deep into injury time.

History has a habit of repeating itself, they say. But Leeds fans arriving at Sharmans Cross Road for the cup Quarter Final against Birmingham Solihull Bees were, on the whole, expecting a comfortable victory. As AramisTyke and I entered, the gateman asked us not to win by too many; we said we hoped we wouldn't. We also apologised for the absence of the indisposed DartagnanTyke.

Inside the ground, there was a good showing of travelling Tykes. For a while it even seemed as if we might outnumber the home support, something pretty much unheard of. The bar was, as we've come to expect, free to enter, and the welcome was friendly. The clubhouse was at one end; viewing options from the sides were a long stand (allegedly formerly at Worcester), and two small bus shelter affairs on the other side. Most of the Tykes made for the latter.

AramisTyke and I had previously collected my god-daughter for her first outing to a rugby match. AramisTyke carefully explained the basics of the rules to her. We explained that Leeds were unbeaten this season and were a division higher than the Bees. We explained that she should support Leeds or else be disinherited. She agreed, and followed us to the bus shelters.

Leeds started as expected. Hinton was at full back, Welding and Goodridge on the wings, with Blackett and Paul in the centres. Strange was again at stand off with Mathie inside. The front row had a rather patched-up look to it, with Hopcroft, Ma'asi and a debuting Swainston in place. Lund and Myall were in the second row, with a back row of Boyde, Rowan and Dunbar.

The game was started promptly by a referee who bore more than a passing resemblance to a Blackadder. Leeds were on the attack straight away with a promising back move that resulted in the first of many breaks from Hints. He went for a Garryowen that would have really got Bill McLaren excited, caught it and waited for the support. The support never came, again for the first of many occasions, and Bees stole the ball and cleared.

On three minutes, a magically re-disposed DartagnanTyke arrived, having covered the distance from Leeds in a time that the Stig would have approved of. Shortly after, Leeds were awarded a penalty on the Bees 22. Inexplicably, they opted to kick for the corner. Inexplicably, because this was a cup match. No bonus points. All that mattered was winning; why turn down three easy points? Had we underestimated the opposition?

Of course, it turned out to be an inspired decision. The line out was won easily (Bees rarely contested the Leeds throw in all afternoon), and Hoppers lumbered round the back to barge over. Strange made the kick, and at 7-0 on five minutes, the Tykes present assumed we were on the way. We little knew what was to come ...

The teams decided to spend the next few minutes with the customary game of aerial whiff whaff. Eventually, the Bees left wing got bored, gathered the ball, and set off towards the Leeds line. He was pulled down just short, and was promptly pinged. Leeds cleared the lines, but the break was a sign of things to come.

Leeds continued to have the majority of the ball, and continued to threaten the Bees line. Hints made several good breaks, and Sparky was also proving difficult to stop. But the last pass kept going down, or the pass was wildly ambitious, or there were too few bodies at the breakdown to retain the ball. On the upside, the scrum was holding up reasonably well, and Bees were losing a good deal of their own line out ball. The Bees had one thing right; they were trying to kick kickable penalties, and they narrowly missed one shortly after the Leeds try.

On 25 minutes, Leeds made another mess of finishing off another break which had put Sharky almost clear. Bees took a quick line, and an inside pass put their scrum half through the Leeds defence. They missed the conversion, but at 7-5 things were closer than most in the ground had expected.

The Bees try stung (sorry) Leeds into a response. Another attack resulted in another kickable penalty on the Bees 22. The three points on offer were turned down in favour of a quick tap, from which the ball was quickly lost. Bees were almost through immediately, only to be called back by Mr Blackadder for a forward pass.

From the scrum, Leeds worked the ball left through many phases. Eventually, they went into the wide open spaces on their right, and Hints was over in the corner after holding on to a somewhat lateral pass. Strange missed from the touchline, but at 12-5 after 35 minutes the Tykes were starting to feel more comfortable.

The half ended with both sides spilling possession in promising positions. Leeds managed to drop the ball, and passes were intercepted by both sides. Bang on 40 minutes, Leeds were on the Bees line, looking for the score that could well have put them out of sight. The ball was spun left, intercepted by a Bee, who ran right back to the Leeds 22. Leeds turned the ball over, and hoofed the ball clear, only for the referee to judge that the ball had been taken back into the 22. The Bees ended the half camped on the Leeds line, with only a fine last ditch tackle from Jaffa keeping Leeds ahead.

At the half, most Leeds supporters probably still expected a comfortable victory. True, Tykes were only seven ahead, but they had stopped everything the Bees had thrown at them and, of course, the Tykes' superior fitness would tell in the second half.

Leeds started the second half looking as if they now meant business. A series of promising charges took them to the Bees line again, but, yet again, the ball was lost. Bees soon knocked on themselves, and Strange made a good break from the resulting scrum. Again, the ball was lost at the ruck, and Bees were quickly down to the Leeds 22. They too managed to lose the ball, and Leeds cleared to half way.

The Bees backs were making breaks whenever they had the ball. Their scrum was in trouble, but once they got the ball wide, Leeds were having to make the tackles. Bees continued their pressure, and almost scored on 48 minutes, stopped only by desperate defence. The watching Tykes started to get restless. Some started to pace up and down. This was not what was supposed to happen.

On 50 minutes, Leeds introduced Bedford, Murphy, Davidson and Hepworth for Mathie, Myall, Dunbar and Goodridge. It was not clear who was now captain with Country off; the pack did look a bit short on experience all of a sudden.

Heps was soon in the thick of things. The feet duly twinkled soon after his introduction, and he was off to the Bees 22. But he too was in the mood to lose the ball in contact, and the Bees cleared to half way.

With no score since the half, Bees seemed to wake up to the possibility that they could win this. It also emerged that they had some supporters in the ground, and they started up a cheer. On 57, they chipped over the Leeds back line. Hints gathered, but was isolated. The ball was lost forward by Little Murph to the Bees, Mr Blackadder allowed the advantage, and Bees were in under the posts. The kick was easy, and it was 12-12 with about twenty minutes to go. This was getting very serious indeed.

Bees were now playing like men possessed. Leeds were still playing, but were playing like men who were not playing well. Passes were still dropped, the ball was lost in contact, kicks were aimless, good positions were wasted. Still, the Tykes supporters knew, our superior fitness would tell.

On 64, Leeds introduced di Bernado for Strange to see if he could calm things down. Things were still pretty tense. Bees were just wide with a penalty attempt as the Doc was coming on. Shortly after, their backs managed to waste a massive overlap with the line at their mercy, and Leeds were grateful to hoof the ball as far as possible down field. A lengthy break on 64 for treatment to a Bees player was to prove significant later on.

Leeds were now defending desperately against wave after wave of Bees attacks. There simply did not seem to be any way to clear the line. When they did manage to get boot to ball, the kicks seemed to go straight to a speeding Bees back, who ran the ball straight back. Although the scores were level, the Bees were clearly in the ascendancy.

Freer entered the fray for Maisie on 72 minutes, with the latter coming off limping badly. Leeds seemed to have no intention of bringing on McGee at any point, so this was the last throw. Leeds lost the ball from Freer's first scrum, and some more whiff whaff developed.

On 76, the Bees stand off saw the Leeds defenders drawn in, and kicked wide. The winger caught it, and was in at the corner, to joyous scenes from the Bees players and supporters. The kick was made from the touchline, and  at 12-19 the Tykes supporters started to cancel those Twickenham hotel rooms. Even with our superior fitness, a win was now looking unlikely. Unlikely, especially as immediately from the kick off, the Bees were back down the Leeds end, and over again in the same corner. This time the kick was missed, but even with superior fitness, 12-24 with two minutes of normal time left was a tall order.

At this point in the match, Leeds suddenly appeared to notice they were not winning. Blacks started to run at Bees backs. HP nearly broke through. Passes started to go to hand. JD and Country prowled the touchline offering advice.

Leeds were hammering away at the Bees line, but surely it was too late. Time was up, and Leeds were still twelve points adrift. The Bees players tackled and tackled but eventually the relatively fresh Freer got the ball a few metres out and powered over. The Doc took one of the quickest conversions on record to make it 19-24, and Leeds sprinted back to half way. Mr Blackadder confirmed that there was time for a bit more.

Bees kicked off. Leeds, now looking a bit more like a side that was unbeaten and fancied staying that way, set off. The twinkling feet broke, and got the ball back to the Bees 22. The ball went out off a Leeds player. Mr Blackadder found time for the line out, to increasing disquiet from the Bees support. The time spent treating their player earlier in the half was now being played out. Leeds stole the ball at the line, and Sparky had a go for the line. He lost the ball, but Bees were pinged for holding on.

There really was no point in taking the three points now. Mr Blackadder still reckoned their was time, so Leeds went for the line out. The ball was won, and HP, Hints and Heps all had runs at the Bees line. Mr Blackadder was now signalling a Leeds advantage, and eventually gave the penalty. The watch now said 49 minutes gone, but still Mr B said there was time for a line out.

The Leeds forwards gathered the ball, and with shades of that snowy night at Headingley two years ago, started to rumble the ball. Their superior fitness was now starting to tell. Boydey came off the back of the maul, slipped the ball to the nicknameless Swainston who was over roughly half way between the posts and touch.

Cometh the hour, cometh the Doc. He knocked over the kick to make it 26-24. Mr Blackadder had seen enough, and that was that. Phew.

Leeds did not play well in this game, but let's start by giving credit to the Bees. On this showing, they will be back in National 1 (or whatever it's going to be called) next season, and they'll do well. They showed commitment, they had pace in the backs, and they had a gnarled forward unit that competed well in the loose.

Leeds were missing a few experienced old heads, particularly up front. Penders, Big Mac and Shrek would all have provided much needed leadership and, for that matter, common sense and were badly missed. The front row held up well, and Swainston had a fine debut, especially as it seems that McGee would only have come on in case of a serious injury.

The Tykes supporters left the ground with shattered nerves, having seen their team's most dramatic win for some time.

So, job done, and now it's back to the serious business of the league.

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