Leeds Tykes -v- Pertemps Bees

Powergen Cup R6

 

19/12/2004 

Headingley, Leeds

Confirmed Bees Position Leeds Tykes Jim Thorp 1 Shelley Matt Miles 2 Regan Matt Long 3 Gerber Rob Hurrell 4 Murphy Rob Walton 5 Palmer Ed Orgee 6 Dunbar Nathan Carter 7 Parks Jim Jenner 8 Rigney Paul Knight 9 McMillan Tim Walsh 10 Ross Aaron Takarangi 11 Cristophers Mike Davies 12 Bell Scott Williams-G 13 Snyman Tom Richardson 14 Biggs Dave Knight 15 Stimpson Rob Merritt 16 Kerr Martin O'Keefe 17 Holt Ben Hughes 18 Morgan Hese Fakatou 19 Hyde Ben Gerry 20 Dickens Roman Piotrowski 21 Doherty Mark Woodrow 22 Cardey

Bees travel to Headingley on Sunday hoping to emulate their trip to Wasps last year, although this match is going to be a lot harder. Bees are without the highest tryscorer in NL1 history, Nick Baxter; and former Leeds centre Shaun Woof. Captain Ed Orgee drops back to the backrow, and Tongan Hese Fakatou will drop to the bench. Tom Richardson is preferred on the wing to Polish Roman Piotrowski

Leeds will not make the same mistake as Wasps last year, and have put out a number of their strongest players including Mark Regan, Mike Shelley, Tim Stimpson, Andre Snyman and Phil Cristophers. Iain Balshaw is unavailable having not recovered from a broken finger nail!

Whatever the score, the Bees boys will be there to enjoy their day in the limelight, to visit a wonderful ground and for their fans to make some noise. The Bees will be full of Christmas cheers.

This article was taken from The Telegraph (www.telegraph.co.uk)

Major upsets in senior rugby are so rare that the fingers of only one hand are needed to recall them. Old Reigatians sensationally defeated Saracens, and Waterloo beat Bath, in the amateur era and then last season Pertemps Bees – crazy name, crazy club – had the audacity to turn over Wasps, who subsequently won the Zurich Premiership and the Heineken Cup.

The mighty Londoners might have finished the year as English and European champions but they missed out on the Powergen Cup after being overwhelmed in the quarter-finals by a swarm of part-timers. Embarrassing in the extreme but truly a day to remember for the Birmingham side.

It might not have been only Wasps who were stung that February day. Any bookmaker who laid the advertised price of 250-1 against the Bees would have been bemoaning the 28-24 victory.

The glorious run was ended by eventual winners Newcastle in the semi-finals but on Sunday, against Leeds at Headingley, the Bees set out to do it all again. Only this time Phil Maynard, their director of rugby, conceded the wise punter should keep his cash in his wallet.

"We have just lost five league games on the bounce and it is the worst run we have had in the three seasons I have been at the club," he said. We are picking up injuries right, left and centre, and my main concern is that we don't add to the list at Leeds.

"When we lost last season's semi-final at Newcastle we lost three key players with injuries for the rest of the season and, as we are already down to the bare bones in our squad, that is something we cannot afford this time."

Pertemps Bees lie eighth in National League One with just six wins from 12 matches, seemingly safe from relegation but 22 points off table-toppers Bristol.

Their latest defeat came against struggling Sedgley Park last Saturday and cost Maynard the services of former Leeds centre Shaun Woof, who suffered a neck injury in the first minute.

Spirits will be high among the travelling support at Headingley, if only from the memories of last year. Maynard cannot realistically expect his side to produce a repeat of their giant-killing heroics.

"Wasps were having an unbelievable season and were probably guilty of taking us a little bit lightly but Leeds will not do that.

"They have already watched us twice in recent weeks and I hear that they put their academy side out in their European Shield game last weekend so that they could keep the big boys fresh for us.

"I've enjoyed many a tussle with Phil Davies over the years but I told him when he came to watch us lose against Sedgley Park last Saturday that he could probably put his academy side out in the cup tie and still beat us comfortably."

 

Steve McCormacks Preview

Both last year’s beaten Powergen Cup semi finalists meet at Headingley on Sunday, but Pertemps Bees are going to have to improve on recent performances if they are going to cause an upset here.

Leeds scored 53 points in Spain on Sunday in the second leg of the first round European Shield game, to follow the 121-0 thrashing they handed out to Valladolid RAC at Headingley the previous week. This was the biggest win in their history beating the previous best of 100-0 against Morley in the Powergen Cup in October 2000. The 19 tries scored and the 13 conversions of Gordon Ross were also club records. The Tykes stand in ninth place in the Zurich Premiership and have only won two home games from six played. The four teams to beat them at Headingley though are placed second to fifth in the league. They have a very average record in the Powergen Cup and their performance in losing at Sale in last year’s semi final represents their best ever achievement in the competition.

Pertemps Bees are having a bad time in National One at the moment and have lost their last five league games. They have quickly dropped from joint top of the league, to their present position of eighth. They have won three away matches from seven played, at the homes of the bottom three clubs. They too have not got the most impressive of records in the Powergen Cup. Their best performance was last season when they upset the mighty Wasps at the Causeway Stadium in the quarter final before going down to eventual winners Newcastle at Kingston Park in the semi final. This season they have beaten Doncaster, Orrell and Coventry to reach the sixth round.

Leeds and Pertemps Bees have only ever met twice before and that was in league rugby in 2000/01 when Leeds completed the double. They should also win this tie comfortably on Sunday. 

 

 

Steve's Prediction: Leeds by 20

My prediction: Head over heart 48-6 to Leeds 

League Form Guide:

Pertemps Bees: l l w l l

Leeds Tykes: l l l w w

 

Comparisons:

	Discipline	Kicker's Strike Rate	Leading Try Scorer	Total Tries	Home/Away Tries
Bees	7 0	Tim Walsh (65)	Baxter (7)	32	10
Leeds	8 0		Bell (4)	17	9

 

Other Matches:

Saturday:

Worcester      v        London Irish  14:00

Northampton v        Bedford         14:00

Bath              v        Harlequins      14:15

Leicester       v        Gloucester     14:45

Sunday:

Leeds            v         Pertemps Bees 14:30

Saracens       v         Newcastle     15:00

Bristol           v         Wasps          15:00

Sale              v          Plymouth Albion      16:00

 

ALSO: POWEGEN VASE: SOLIHULL –V- OLD EDS (SATURDAY 2PM)                                                    

 

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