Most of you will either have watched the game on the telly or will have been there. You therefore do not need me to tell you just how dire a performance this was. No bones about it, it was a shocker. This was more than just a bad day at the office. It was an uninspired, directionless group of players who were comprehensively beaten by the team who are currently bottom of the Zurich Premiership.

Things started brightly enough, before a ball was kicked that is. We were treated to some very scantily clad dancers strutting their stuff in furry wellington boots and to Terry the hamster, complete with large flag doing his thing. Given the kick off time and the logistics involved I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of travelling support we had, at a guess I would put it at three or four hundred.

The first quarter was pretty well even stevens, neither side gained any significant advantage. We had a let off on 10 minutes when Gordon Ross missed a relatively easy penalty attempt. Our best attacking move of the game was in this period. The referee, Tony Spreadbury, who to my mind had a good game, played advantage from a Leeds knock on inside our 22 from where we took the ball to within sniffing distance of the Leeds line. This attacking opportunity was lost as Leeds turned over our own lineout, something they continued to do all through the match.

It was just after this attack that Leeds put the first points on the board. Poor handling, again a recurring theme of the game, saw the ball handed to Chris Bell. He danced round a couple of our players and ran in pretty well unopposed. Our hopes were slightly raised when Ross missed the straightforward conversion attempt.

Nils replaced Stan the man on the half-hour. Some of my fellow supporters suggested that he had been taken out. I cannot confirm or deny this but can only say that he was in a bad way from quite early in the game. To my mind he should have been replaced earlier.

A spell of good Leeds pressure led to the next score, a drop goal by Gordon Ross. We were perhaps lucky at that stage only to have conceded three points. Leeds had been camped on or about our line for some five minutes. From the restart Leeds were pinged for holding on. This gave Tofty a chance to put some points on the board, a chance he duly took. We went in at half time 8 – 3 down but still in the game.

The second half started brightly enough. JFK went off, replaced by Ryan O’Strudwick. After a decent period of pressure we were awarded a penalty in front of the posts which Tofty duly converted. With 55 minutes on the clock we were behind 8 – 6 and had a game on. Sadly that was about the high spot of the afternoon.

It was a mistake by Tofty that led to the next Leeds try. From just outside our own 22 he kicked the ball out on the full. The resulting lineout was won by Leeds who quickly passed the ball the width of the field; David Duckenfield went over in the corner. Ross, his confidence by now fully regained, made the difficult conversion. With 15 minutes to go we were 15 – 6 down, that turned out to be the final score.

I cannot think of anything positive to say about what I saw on the pitch. There were handling errors galore, nobody can blame the weather this time. We lost many lineouts against the head. We used to be so good at these, have we been found out? Or just lost our touch? We lacked penetration. I can only think of one good run that Spud had after he came on, that aside, zippo. We did not seriously threaten their line at any stage during the game. If anything the scoreline flatters us.

We can now cast aside any hope of playing in the Heineken Cup next year. On the basis of this performance we will struggle to find the few points we need to stay in the premiership. As I write this I shudder to think what Leicester will do to this team on Friday night. It won’t be pretty. We have to face it, at present we are a very poor outfit.

Off field, in the company of friends and family, was as wonderful as ever. It is you, my fellow supporters, that keeps me coming back to games.

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