Tyked!
Catts got the cream of the Irish!
Tyked!
By Mrs Goz
September 5 2005
Well, after a very short but highly enjoyable summer and after collecting and dispatching a large number of tickets, we set off for the Rosebine car park and the hallowed turf of Twickers for the Double Header.
Tyked!
September 5 2005
Well, after a very short but highly enjoyable summer and after collecting and dispatching a large number of tickets, we set off for the Rosebine car park and the hallowed turf of Twickers for the Double Header.
In true LI style, the corner of the west car park had been ‘greened’ and a gentle social gathering was underway. Delight at seeing good friends was evident all round and it was particularly lovely to see Mr Rolls of the Allied Arms looking well and ready to mingle after his recent poorleyness; his father-in-law was looking foxy too!
Being the friendly, all-welcoming supporters that we are, the Wasps team coach got a warm welcome and some of them even waved back. Mr Sackey certainly did although I do think maybe he damaged some tendons or something in the process…
A brief sojourn into the Guinness Village saw three of us photographed for ‘Supporters of the Season’ which boosted our morale nicely and shortly after that – once the shamrocks had been applied - I made my way into the ground to find Himself (he favours introvert support, doesn’t feel adornments of any kind are necessary) who had gone ahead.
Once in our seats I sat back to watch Wasps & Sarries and enjoyed watching a game of rugby with no particular affiliation. It’s lovely just to be able to cheer good play, which I try to do at all games, but without worrying about the impact it might have on ‘my’ team.
We kept our seats after that match had finished and waited for the main event.
At a little before 4:20, the teams came out onto the sunny pitch. The cheers were massive and the amplification up in the middle tier of the east stand was most gratifying. It even made us sound tuneful when we sang (well most of us anyway)!
The drop of the arm combined with the peep of the whistle saw play commence and our team seemed to be possessed by desire and spirit. In the earlier minutes a little too much uncontained enthusiasm led to some unforced errors similar to those we got used to seeing last season but the fact that we were undeterred was a marked difference; there were no bowed heads in the LI squad yesterday.
Our first opportunity to score came from Delon who found himself in possession, he chipped and chased and appeared to touch down but the esteemed Mr Davey deemed it not grounded and the try wasn’t given. From that, Leeds seemed to kick into action and within minutes had taken the ball to the other end and scored a try of their own. The conversion missed and the opening score was 5-0 on 8 minutes.
The teams battled pretty evenly but with Irish starting to look more dominant, more controlled and more determined. Play was switching between the two sides and on several occasions Irish gave us glimpses of what was to come. Time after time we approached the try line and time after time we were stopped or the ball was dropped.
I will confess that I did start to wonder if it was going to be another season like the last and there were some similar thoughts being voiced but we squashed them and got on with the business of supporting.
The Irish pressure started to pay off when deep into the Leeds half they conceded a penalty. Lord Barry of Bootsville stepped up to the tee and dispatched the ball neatly between the posts to put us on the board. 18 minutes played and 5-3 on the board.
The battle for dominance resumed and this time it was Leeds to benefited from a penalty and were able to restore their 5 point lead. 25 minutes (roughly) and 8-8 on the board.
The Irish back row are worthy of mention, they seemed to be everywhere. Spud was right back up there, Awesome lived up to his moniker and the Va Va Voom from Magne was unmistakeable. They ensured that Leeds were frustrated at every turn and never looked like losing their hold on the game. Their dominance continued to our first try, an absolute peach provided by Rodd Penney on 38 minutes - which was duly converted by Barry, and beyond; as a unit, their impact was absolutely immense.
With the scores on 8-10 the Irish support was getting more and more vocal but Leeds were still in the fight. Only a couple of minutes from our try, they were awarded a penalty which they took to regain the lead with a score of 11-10.
Last season, Leeds lost 11 of the 12 matches where they went in behind at the break. I can only assume that Irish were aware of that fact and had decided not to chance it. From the restart it was apparent that they were going for glory.
Into extra time and Bishop took the wind out of Leeds with a bone-crunching tackle, Catt – not one to miss a gift – scooped up the ball and charged forward eventually passing a sweet ball out to Delon who sailed across the line for a second 5-pointer. Again Barry converted and the Irish contingent went mental. Griff has asked me to make it clear that it was at this point he first said he wanted 4!
Half time saw the resurgence of hope in the Irish eyes and a stampede for the bars – well, we are supporting the Irish and we all have to do our bit!
From the restart Irish seemed to read the Leeds moves which saw the northerners frustrated at every turn. Any ground they made was cruelly snatched away before points could be gained by an Irish team brimming with confidence. It was fab.
A sure sign of the confidence was presented when, on the award of a penalty, Irish kicked for the corner. That one act was enough to send the supporters wild with delight and better was still to come. On 53 minutes following the line-out, and a subsequent scrum ball was secured by Willis passed to Catt then Armitage and finally to Bish who sidestepped danger neatly en route to ground the ball over the line. There was no conversion but there was a festival feeling in the east stand as the board announced 11-22.
There was also at this point a resounding chant of ‘We Want 4!”
Leeds were a long way from giving up and piled the pressure on until they found themselves 5m from our try line and advancing slowly. Irish were obviously feeling some of the pressure and this was evident with the sin-binning of Collins for collapsing a maul. Leeds penalty shot went wide of the posts and Irish, not about to cave in now, maintained their focus and managed to clear the ball to safety.
At the end of 80 minutes, and with time still left to play, the Irish team were still hungry, and possibly in response to the calls for 4, obliged with a loose ball being gathered up into the awesome arms of Dawson before he steamed over the line. The conversion hit the post and bounced back signalling 11-27 as the final score of a highly entertaining match.
All in all, it was a fantastic start to the season. It could be that it was a one-off but deep down in the pit of my belly I don’t think so. Our team really look like one now. Their warm-up looks more cohesive, their play is well structured and, in the main, well executed and after the match they stay as a unit.
It could be that Mike Catt’s captaincy was the key and undoubtably he was inspirational, but I don’t believe even the strongest leader can orchestrate a total change in approach without having a talented team to work with.
Yesterday, for the first time in a long time, LI went out as a team and came in as a team without once losing their team focus. For leadership alone I would nominate Mike Catt for the MoTM other than that, I wouldn’t really want to choose for fear of doing someone a disservice.
Being the friendly, all-welcoming supporters that we are, the Wasps team coach got a warm welcome and some of them even waved back. Mr Sackey certainly did although I do think maybe he damaged some tendons or something in the process…
A brief sojourn into the Guinness Village saw three of us photographed for ‘Supporters of the Season’ which boosted our morale nicely and shortly after that – once the shamrocks had been applied - I made my way into the ground to find Himself (he favours introvert support, doesn’t feel adornments of any kind are necessary) who had gone ahead.
Once in our seats I sat back to watch Wasps & Sarries and enjoyed watching a game of rugby with no particular affiliation. It’s lovely just to be able to cheer good play, which I try to do at all games, but without worrying about the impact it might have on ‘my’ team.
We kept our seats after that match had finished and waited for the main event.
At a little before 4:20, the teams came out onto the sunny pitch. The cheers were massive and the amplification up in the middle tier of the east stand was most gratifying. It even made us sound tuneful when we sang (well most of us anyway)!
The drop of the arm combined with the peep of the whistle saw play commence and our team seemed to be possessed by desire and spirit. In the earlier minutes a little too much uncontained enthusiasm led to some unforced errors similar to those we got used to seeing last season but the fact that we were undeterred was a marked difference; there were no bowed heads in the LI squad yesterday.
Our first opportunity to score came from Delon who found himself in possession, he chipped and chased and appeared to touch down but the esteemed Mr Davey deemed it not grounded and the try wasn’t given. From that, Leeds seemed to kick into action and within minutes had taken the ball to the other end and scored a try of their own. The conversion missed and the opening score was 5-0 on 8 minutes.
The teams battled pretty evenly but with Irish starting to look more dominant, more controlled and more determined. Play was switching between the two sides and on several occasions Irish gave us glimpses of what was to come. Time after time we approached the try line and time after time we were stopped or the ball was dropped.
I will confess that I did start to wonder if it was going to be another season like the last and there were some similar thoughts being voiced but we squashed them and got on with the business of supporting.
The Irish pressure started to pay off when deep into the Leeds half they conceded a penalty. Lord Barry of Bootsville stepped up to the tee and dispatched the ball neatly between the posts to put us on the board. 18 minutes played and 5-3 on the board.
The battle for dominance resumed and this time it was Leeds to benefited from a penalty and were able to restore their 5 point lead. 25 minutes (roughly) and 8-8 on the board.
The Irish back row are worthy of mention, they seemed to be everywhere. Spud was right back up there, Awesome lived up to his moniker and the Va Va Voom from Magne was unmistakeable. They ensured that Leeds were frustrated at every turn and never looked like losing their hold on the game. Their dominance continued to our first try, an absolute peach provided by Rodd Penney on 38 minutes - which was duly converted by Barry, and beyond; as a unit, their impact was absolutely immense.
With the scores on 8-10 the Irish support was getting more and more vocal but Leeds were still in the fight. Only a couple of minutes from our try, they were awarded a penalty which they took to regain the lead with a score of 11-10.
Last season, Leeds lost 11 of the 12 matches where they went in behind at the break. I can only assume that Irish were aware of that fact and had decided not to chance it. From the restart it was apparent that they were going for glory.
Into extra time and Bishop took the wind out of Leeds with a bone-crunching tackle, Catt – not one to miss a gift – scooped up the ball and charged forward eventually passing a sweet ball out to Delon who sailed across the line for a second 5-pointer. Again Barry converted and the Irish contingent went mental. Griff has asked me to make it clear that it was at this point he first said he wanted 4!
Half time saw the resurgence of hope in the Irish eyes and a stampede for the bars – well, we are supporting the Irish and we all have to do our bit!
From the restart Irish seemed to read the Leeds moves which saw the northerners frustrated at every turn. Any ground they made was cruelly snatched away before points could be gained by an Irish team brimming with confidence. It was fab.
A sure sign of the confidence was presented when, on the award of a penalty, Irish kicked for the corner. That one act was enough to send the supporters wild with delight and better was still to come. On 53 minutes following the line-out, and a subsequent scrum ball was secured by Willis passed to Catt then Armitage and finally to Bish who sidestepped danger neatly en route to ground the ball over the line. There was no conversion but there was a festival feeling in the east stand as the board announced 11-22.
There was also at this point a resounding chant of ‘We Want 4!”
Leeds were a long way from giving up and piled the pressure on until they found themselves 5m from our try line and advancing slowly. Irish were obviously feeling some of the pressure and this was evident with the sin-binning of Collins for collapsing a maul. Leeds penalty shot went wide of the posts and Irish, not about to cave in now, maintained their focus and managed to clear the ball to safety.
At the end of 80 minutes, and with time still left to play, the Irish team were still hungry, and possibly in response to the calls for 4, obliged with a loose ball being gathered up into the awesome arms of Dawson before he steamed over the line. The conversion hit the post and bounced back signalling 11-27 as the final score of a highly entertaining match.
All in all, it was a fantastic start to the season. It could be that it was a one-off but deep down in the pit of my belly I don’t think so. Our team really look like one now. Their warm-up looks more cohesive, their play is well structured and, in the main, well executed and after the match they stay as a unit.
It could be that Mike Catt’s captaincy was the key and undoubtably he was inspirational, but I don’t believe even the strongest leader can orchestrate a total change in approach without having a talented team to work with.
Yesterday, for the first time in a long time, LI went out as a team and came in as a team without once losing their team focus. For leadership alone I would nominate Mike Catt for the MoTM other than that, I wouldn’t really want to choose for fear of doing someone a disservice.
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