By Howlin
May 11 2003

A lot has been happening in Rugby this week and the community spirit that exists between supporters of all clubs meant that no-one was left unaffected.The early atmosphere at Franklins Gardens seemed to reflect this. A near capacity crowd was expected however just ten minutes before kick off there were many gaps and the buzz you would expect for a game of such importance for both sides wasn't there. But a huge exodus from the various bars around the ground minutes before meant 12500 people cheered loudly as Jorgy and Matty Stewart led the teams out for what had been billed as their last game for the Saints. Game on.

But anyone expecting "Hats on Wheels" from the start would have been very disappointed. All the early possession belonged to Leeds. A combination of better competing at the breakdowns (by fair or foul) , Saints kicking away what possession they had and Mr McHugh's whistle, the boys in the Gold , Black & Green didn't see much of the ball in the first 25 minutes. In fact Mr McHugh appeared to be so impressed by Leeds blocking on the fringes of scrums and rucks that he joined in himself on one occasion taking out Darren Fox to allow Ross a clear run through

During this time Leeds never threatened a try but were awarded five penalties. The first two were just inside the Leeds half but this didn't stop Braam Van Straaten kicking for goal. It ended up more like Braams and List as both kicks missed. Maybe it was because the wind was in his favour or maybe it was Leeds game plan to slow everything down to walking pace, but the decision to go for goal appeared to illustrate perfectly the limit of their ambitions. The other three pens. were at bit closer, including a few stolen metres, and that helped him get a couple of them but that was to be the end of Leeds for the afternoon.

After the fourth pen Geoff Allen had begged the crowd to keep quiet when kicks were taken. Unfortunately most of those present thought he had meant for all plays as a deathly hush fell over the gardens until the Saints forwards decided to take it to Leeds with a couple of decent driving mauls. Punches and bodies everywhere but it gave the forwards a chance to assert themselves (and for Wally to have his shirt ripped from his back) The screw started to turn and the crowd started to sing again.

26 mins on the clock and Saints get into the Leeds 22 for the first time. The ball is flung back to the supporters club player of the year and he shows why. Grays drops a goal against a swirling wind 6-3.

Saints had by now decided that if McHugh wasn't going to do his job they may as well , Daws pulls a Leeds forward from the wrong side of a ruck by his leg and it is becoming clear that the tide is turning. Cohen makes a break on the left from a standing start and almost gets to the line. The ball is recycled and via a Daws pass along the ground reaches Nick Beal on the other side of the park. He slips it inside to Jorgy who fittingly scores the first try on 35 mins. Daws misses the conversion. Still time for Regan to start the stroppy stuff and for Daws to miss the pen. Half time 8-6.

During the break we hear the half time scores from around the premiership. Sarries leading Sale 17-7 ! So third place is a real possibility. I wonder if anyone told the players. So many times in the important games in the past Saints have choked. But not this time. During the next 40 mins or so the screw was to be tightened and now playing into the wind Leeds were to be the team hemmed into their own half. Even to the most pessimistic Jimmie the result was never in doubt. Even when 2 mins in Daws limped off to be replaced by Brooks. Soon after Leeds give away a pen for diving over the top and Bruce takes up the kicking duties effectively 11-6. Frustratingly Saints continued to kick away a lot of possession and Mchugh continued to get Leeds out of jail with strange decisions at the breakdown including an extra 10 metres as some Saints tempers at these inconsistencies surfaced. It did appear though that there had been a clear decision made in the dressing room to keep these decisions in the opposition half so that there would be no more scoring opportunities for Leeds.

14 mins into the second half Regan finally went to the bin, really a man of his advanced years should learn to calm down. Budgen then replaced Morris in a scrum that had gained the upper hand. Bruce went close after a clever kick through from Jorgy and by 19 mins in Grayson's kicking out of hand had really started to pin Leeds back. Darren Fox did some tasty rucking and a made cracking tackle on Harder, Matt Lord turned up on the wing , big Jl was punching holes, surely a try would come soon. Another Saints pen on 24 mins . Bruce kicks again 14-6. Grant Seely comes on for Williams and the scrum shifts around to accomodate him.

Grays then seems to lose his kicking touch again so Bealer takes over clearing the ball about three quarters of the length of the pitch.Then finally 36 mins into the second half came the defining moment. Some smart interchanging and handling on the right sees the ball once again travel the whole width of the park (again incuding a pass along the ground. Is this deliberate ?!) and there on the wing is the Saints flyer Wally. A surge, a shimmy and then a samoan sidestep. Wally scores and Bruce converts from the front row of the Churches. 21-6 game well and truly over. I hear that Sarries are winning 31-7 so third place too !! Eat your heart out Lardy Barnes. There's still time for the raspberry to come on and score as a cross field kick is tapped back to him by Cohen. He certainly looks back to his enthusiastic best. Jorgy takes over the kicking duties and he gets it. Final score 28-6.

Geoff Allen confirms that indeed saints are third and this causes some confusion. All the plans for the last game of the season are now a little premature. The crowd show their appreciation as the team come across towards the Tetley's, third place in the league (qualifying with a good European seeding for next year), quarter finalists in the Heineken (losing to possibly the winners on their own turf) and finalists in the Powergen cup. Not a bad season for a side in development !

Oh and I nearly forgot. A touch of irony. On a day where Saints put in what this writer felt was an almost Tigeresque performance, gradually squeezing the life out of the opposition and winning a game of the greatest importance, Leicester lost again. They finished Sixth. So , for this season at least, Saints are the champion team of the East Midlands by quite a distance !

Team

1. Matt Stewart
2. Steve Thompson
3. Robbie Morris (Chris Budgen)
4. Steve Williams (Grant Seely)
5. Matt Lord
6. Mark Connors
7. Darren Fox
8. Andrew Blowers
9. Matt Dawson (James Brooks)
10. Paul Grayson
11. Ben Cohen
12. John Leslie
13. Peter Jorgensen
14. Bruce Reihana