21 point personal haul

By Nat Hawthorne
February 2 2009

On a cold and blustery Sunday in Headingley, Leeds Carnegie entertained Sedgley Park Tigers in a National Division One clash. The visitors found themselves languishing at the wrong end of the table in 13th place before kick-off, a place which, because of the leagues re-shuffling, would see them relegated at the end of the season. The Tykes were gunning for their 21st straight league win, and were also looking for the bonus point that would again put them eight points clear of Exeter.         

Leeds had a break from the norm in the first half, starting the game from right to left from the view of the South Stand, and it wasn’t long until the score board started ticking over when Scott Armstrong received the ball and proceeded to hit a big gap at speed wide out, evading several would-be Sedgley tacklers, to touch down just to the left of the sticks after just 3 minutes. This kicked off what was to be a busy day for fly half James Brooks with the boot, and he successfully converted Armstrong’s try to make the score 7-0.

After seven minutes the Tykes were awarded a penalty in front of the sticks on the Tiger’s five metre line. Much to the crowds approval they opted for the scrum and good quick hands from Henry Paul saw James Brooks run through unopposed to touch down next the posts. Brooks then converted his own effort to make the score board read 14-0 after just eight minutes.

Leeds enjoyed the lions share of possession in the early stages of the match and whenever Sedgley Park managed to get their hands on the ball it was pick and drive from the base of the ruck deep in their own half which was inevitably eventually stolen by the stronger Carnegie forwards.

A matter of minutes after Phil Murphy had come on as a blood bin replacement for Jon Pendlebury, Leeds scored again. After good hands from Danny Paul, Scott Armstrong was able to go over wide out for his second try of the game, and James Brooks conversion made the score 21-0.

A period of pressure from Sedgley Park was no match for the Leeds defence and Carnegie threatened to counter attack brilliantly when scrum half Scott Mathie showed his pace and raced almost the full length of the field only to be caught and have the ball stolen from him on the Tiger’s 22 metre line.     

Sedgley’s best effort of the day came in the 22^nd minute when they were held up on the Leeds line. However, Leeds dealt with the pressure at the resulting scrum and efficiently turned the ball over for James Brooks, who was impressive all game, to race to the Tiger’s 22. Following this break, good hands from Brooks to Jonny Hepworth who then found Jon Goodridge saw the latter grab a try in the corner and with it the bonus point for Carnegie. A great conversion from Brooks made it 28-0.

Leeds carried on threatening the Sedgley line and continued to find numerous gaps at speed. A number of players were unlucky not to break through, including Goodridge who just strayed into touch whilst sprinting down the left touchline.

It wasn’t long, however, till Leeds scored again. This time another good break from the ever present Brooks found the impressive league debutant Jacob Rowan who skilfully put Lee Blackett over for a try wide out. Brooks conversion agonisingly ricocheted off the upright to leave the score at 33-0.

After 31 minutes Tommy McGee had to be replaced by Argentine prop Juan Gomez who was called into action straight away to defend more pick and drives from the Sedgley forwards, regardless of their position deep in their own half.

The Tykes cleverly stole the ball and quick thinking from Mathie put Rhys Oakley into space, enabling him to unleash Scott Armstrong who would have been able to complete his hat trick were it not for the referee pulling Leeds back for an alleged forward pass by the number eight, much to his, and the crowd’s dismay.

It wasn’t long, though, before Leeds were on the scoreboard again. Good build up play from Carnegie enabled crowd favourite Gomez to enjoy a storming run from the 22 all the way to the line before bullying his way over to touch down. Celebrations were marred somewhat, however, as substitute Gomez had to be taken off due to injury. Back rower Andy Boyde came on as the prop’s replacement meaning uncontested scrums were the order of the day. Brooks added the conversion to leave the half time score at 40-0 to the Tykes.

With the snow starting to fall, and the freezing cold starting to rise up through the new covering on the South Stand which resembles more a fire escape than a rugby terrace, the second half was upon us.

Leeds started the second period like they had the first, this time only taking one minute from the restart to score again. Good handling skills from the impressive Danny Paul released Jacob Rowan and the young flanker fell tantalisingly short of the line after a great run through the 22. Not to worry however as Jonny Hepworth was on hand to dart over and ground the ball. The conversion was no problem at all for the increasingly reliable Brooks, and he made it 47-0.

Supporters hardly had time to warm their hands after applauding Hepworth’s first try, before he was sprinting down the field for his second. A poor Sedgley pass in the Leeds half found no-one, and Hepworth was the quickest, pouncing on the visitors mistake and running the full length to touch down under the posts. The conversion was an inevitability and Brooks added the two extras to make the score 54-0.

Fans thought they had witnessed three tries in four minutes after yet another great break from Brooks, followed by a delicate chip over the defence which was gathered in and touched down by the fly half, only for the referee to call him back to halfway after an alleged crossing infringement.

After this Leeds took their foot of the gas somewhat. There were some great breaks, notably from Rhys Oakley and Scott Armstrong, but nothing much materialised from them. Armstrong’s break however yielded a Leeds penalty deep into the Tiger’s half. Quick thinking from the ever-present Brooks saw a cross field kick gathered in by Mathie who was unlucky to have the ball knocked from his grasp just metres from the line.

Just two minutes after the Headingley crowd had given Vili Ma’asi a warm reception after coming on as a replacement for stand-in captain Rob Rawlinson, Leeds scored again. This time good hands again from Brooks found Hepworth who in turn released Blackett for the line. After a period of rucking from the Tykes pack, replacement Andy Boyde was sent crashing over for his sixth try of the season. Brooks conversion attempt sailed wide to leave the score line at 59-0.

Between the 55^th minute and the 58^th minute there were a number of Leeds replacements. Joe Bedford was brought on for Scott Mathie at scrum half, whilst Alberto Di Bernardo found himself in the unorthodox position of inside centre having replaced Henry Paul. Leigh Hinton also found himself in a slightly different environment, and the man who has scored 12 tries in this campaign, replaced Jonny Hepworth at outside centre. Finally, what had previously been a blood bin replacement was made a permanent one when Phil Murphy came on to replace Jon Pendlebury.

After this, Leeds still threatened but to no avail. Quick hands in the Sedgley 22 following a penalty, saw Di Bernardo’s long pass agonisingly spilled by Armstrong in tricky conditions wide out. In fact it was Sedgley Park who had the best chance when their full back, Matt Riley, made a good break up field, evading Leeds tacklers until he was finally stopped by the back tracking Bedford and stripped of the ball by the following Tykes support.

Another great chip from Brooks saw Leeds head for the line only to be stopped by referee, Darren Gamage, who had a fairly good game compared to referees in recent matches, for crossing. It wasn’t long, however, until Leeds added their final points of the day to the scoreboard. More great forward play from Rowan and Boyde created the platform for replacement Phil Murphy to grab only his second try of his Leeds career, and this coupled with Brooks’ final conversion left the score at full time, 66-0 to the Yorkshire side.

The first half was possibly the most clinical performance Leeds have made all season and they deservedly went in at the break 40-0 up. In the second half, although Carnegie took their foot of the gas a little, they were still efficient in taking their chances when they arrived.

Although it was a brilliant team performance and everyone had a good game, there were some stand out performances within the Leeds team. Young back rower Jacob Rowan has most definitely given Messrs Key and Back a selection headache and deserved his Man of the Match award for a tireless display on debut, whilst James Brooks has done the same thing in the number 10 jersey. Numerous darting runs and great kicking out of hand as well as at goal will surely earn the former London Wasp a place in the squad for bigger games.

Scott Armstrong continues to show his potential with his 7^th and 8^th tries in just seven starts, and with Kearnen Myall called up for the Saxons and Calum Clark named captain of the England Under 20 side, it shows great promise for the future of Leeds Carnegie. 

Final Score:

Tries –

Scott Armstrong – 3, 17

James Brooks – 8

Jon Goodridge – 23

Lee Blackett – 29

Juan Gomez – 37

Jonny Hepworth – 41, 43

Andy Boyde – 53

Phil Murphy – 74

Conversions –

James Brooks (8)

Attendance - 2029

Carnegie Tame Tigers in Ten Try Rout

Discussion started by TykesRugby.co.uk (IP Logged), 02/02/2009 10:58

TykesRugby.co.uk
02/02/2009 10:58

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ellishicks
02/02/2009 15:23

Great report Nat. How did you get all that? My brain froze sometime in the second half. I thought Tigers were poor - not as good as the sparky side that came here last time. Can't blame them but they were negative. Should have been an opportunity for JH to get whizzy but he continues to lose himself and the support runners. Defensively, Rowan had a good game but he wasn't up against much. Enjoyed Scud's runs. Shouldn't there have been more support for Rhys and SM when they broke? OUr offloading was slow.

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dragon27
02/02/2009 17:18

Good report Andy it must have been difficult for the players, playing in those conditions. I'm also a little concerned at the lack of offloading and support of players making good breaks, maybe we missed Myall in this area.

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Rocky
02/02/2009 20:34

The problem we had is not offloading but choosing when to....too many times during the game for forced an offload when nothing was on and the ball went to ground. I can appreciate that it is a split second decision to pop the ball on keep posession but it is key that this becomes second nature, quick ball and the offload are deadly weapons in National 1 and essential in the Premiership.

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