Yorkshire Carnegie
Five Points, Job Done
Curb your Enthusiasm?
By Tony Jenkins
February 25 2009
Did you have a Golden Ticket? In scenes that Willy Wonka himself would have been proud of, folk converged on Headingley Stadium on Sunday. Many of them clutched Golden Tickets that promised cut-price admission to the game between Leeds and Esher.
Did you have a Golden Ticket? In scenes that Willy Wonka himself would have been proud of, folk converged on Headingley Stadium on Sunday. Many of them clutched Golden Tickets that promised cut-price admission to the game between Leeds and Esher.
AramisTyke and I have boring old white Season Tickets, so we arrived our usual ten minutes before the start. Two of my Golden Tickets were handed to ScouseTyke and his friend. AramisTyke had forgotten to bring his.
We entered the ground yet again having missed the adulation that had presumably but recently greeted the arrival of the Carnegie Challenger. The delirious crowed were chanting something that we couldn't quite make out but which could have been "Weee wan tear-ee" at their beloved mascot. We couldn't quite understand why.
I paused as we walked across the West Terrace to look at the pitch. It was covered with a strange green substance which I did not recognise. AramisTyke told me it was something called "grass". Having been in Coventry the previous week, I had forgotten that this was what rugby pitches were supposed to look like. We pressed on to a fuller-than-usual South Stand, and took our places behind DartagnanTyke and AthosTyke just as the teams ran out. The Golden Tickets had brought a few more people out, including AthosTyke Snr.
Leeds started as announced with Goodridge at full back, Blackett and Armstrong on the wings, an experimental Biggs and Barrow in the centres, and Strange and Bedford at half pack. Rawlinson was between two of the remaining fit props, MacDonald and McGee, with Murphy and Pendlebury in the engine room. The back row was Oakley-less for the first time since Dings, with Myall, Clark and Dunbar together. It was good to see Sam Stitcher lining up for Esher.
The referee turned out to be Mr Apgeraint Roberts from the Coventry match again, without his wig. He was going by the name of Mr Sharp for some strange reason. Anyway, he started the game and Leeds were up and at Esher from the start.
Some good early pressure included Leeds shoving Esher unceremoniously off their own ball at a scrum. A chip through from Strange nearly put Rawlo through, and Big Mac was caught just short. But the ball was lost and Esher managed to clear. Worryingly, Big Mac spent some time receiving treatment.
The respite for Esher was temporary. After a session of aerial ping-pong Leeds gained a penalty on the Esher 10 metre line. It was kicked to the corner, the bonus point being the order of the day. From the line out five metres out, Country took the ball and drove. From the second phase, JD barged over. Strange converted to make it 7-0 on seven minutes.
The Tykes looked to be intending to get the bonus sooner rather than later. The restart was taken well and the forwards started to drive back up the field. A looping pass from Strange found Stretch, who made a fine break up to the Esher 22. Big Mac was among the first to arrive (to the shame of many a back), and he drove on to the Esher line, feeding Kent who was held up over the line by some desperate defence. The Van Man unwisely went on his own from the scrum, and was scragged. Leeds managed to recycle the ball, but Stretch dropped the miss pass and Esher broke down the field, clearing the danger.
Leeds were soon back in Esher territory, kicking a penalty from half way to touch inside the 22. A fine inside pass almost set Biggsy away, but his feet twinkled less than those of the usual 13, and he was pulled down. More desperate defence from Esher resulted in a line out to Leeds five metres out on Esher's right. Leeds took the line out ball and drove for the line. After a couple of phases, Big Mac found himself with the ball facing the smallest Esher defender; it was no contest. Strange added the extras and 14-0 was the score with 16 minutes gone.
More aerial whiff whaff ensued from the restart. A loose kick from Esher gave Strange the ball on his own 22, but rather than hoofing again, he spotted space on the Leeds right, and chipped across. Country collected, and galloped off down field with Esher defenders bouncing off him in all directions. He fed Wheels, who slipped it to Blacks on the Leeds 10 metre line. There was no stopping the newly converted winger, and he was in at the corner after a sprint. Strange knocked over the conversion. 21-0 on 19 minutes.
A rout of Newbury proportions now looked on the cards. Esher were losing a lot of ball in the rucks, and their scrum was struggling. Still, when they got the ball they were trying to play rugby and kept on running back at Leeds.
Leeds, however, were after the bonus point. They were playing well. Big Mac was everywhere, and Esher must have been getting bored with the sight of JD. An over-complicated back move led to Biggs running into Country, and shortly afterwards an ambitious chip from Strange saw Biggs beat two men only to be pulled down just short. It was only a matter of time, though. On 26 minutes, a Leeds penalty was kicked into touch deep in Esher territory. Esher couldn't stop or pull down a good old traditional catch-and-drive from the forwards, and Big Mac was over again. Strange added two more, and it was 28-0, the bonus was in the bag, and the job was done.
At this point DartagnanTyke and I wondered whether it was too early to go to the pub. After all, we'd won and we had the bonus. Why stay? we thought we'd stick it out for a bit, so as not to be rude.
Leeds were back at Esher from the restart, and a rout really did seem the most likely outcome. But Esher were made of stern stuff. They stopped a good break from Country and cleared their lines. A mysterious penalty from Mr Roberts-Sharp gave them the chance to kick an easy three points but, to generous applause from the cognoscenti, they went for the corner. They got the ball from the resulting line out, but some good forward work gave Wheels the chance to clear the Leeds line.
The half now seemed to be petering out, but another Esher penalty on half way gave them the chance to end the half on a high. They kicked to the corner (cognoscenti applauding again), and took the ball from the line. They worked the ball wide, and their centre was put in at the corner to more generous applause. The atmosphere was soured slightly when some idiots at the back of the South Stand raised their knuckles far enough from the ground to allow them to shout at and abuse the Esher kicker as he took the conversion. Presumably they were in on Golden Tickets, and hopefully they won't be in again. The Esher man made the kick anyway, and it was 28-7 on half time.
The referee found some extra time in the half, which the teams used for some further whiff whaff. A good break by Leeds was foiled by a deliberate knock on from an Esher player who was lucky to avoid a yellow card. The resulting penalty was chipped across field for Blacks to chase, but it was too long and the half finished at 28-7. Worryingly, Big Mac limped from the field.
There was lavish half time entertainment, with four teams of youngsters getting stuck in to each other. The Challenger was also challenged and was defeated, which pleased everyone.
Half time saw Denton and Hopcroft enter the fray to replace Country and Big Mac. Denton was to play in the unusual position (for him) of open side. DartagnanTyke plans one day to field an "All Ginger XV" (Capt: T Biggs), so he woke up and started to watch Dents's progress with some interest (the last time he was this interested was when I pointed out Exeter's ginger physio).
Just as he did against Exeter in September, Dents managed to give away a penalty as soon as he'd come on. Esher took it quickly, and some fine work by their forwards put their full back in. The kick was kicked (and thankfully was better observed by the knuckle draggers at the back of the South Stand), and at 28-14 with just 2 minutes gone in the half, all was not well in the Leeds world.
Things got worse. The Leeds scrum was now struggling and Esher took one against the head. Leeds were soon around the wrong side at a ruck, and Esher enthusiastically kicked to the corner. Another penalty saw Mr Sharp-Roberts give Rawlo a clear warning. Esher nearly got their stand-off over the line, but desperate defence kept them out. At 28-0 desperate defence from Leeds was the last thing we were expecting!
A penalty gave Leeds the chance to clear their lines. Strange kicked to touch on half way. An astonishingly good take by Dents (DartagnanTyke nodded approvingly) allowed Leeds to get the ball quickly to Wheels, who was in the clear. Penders took it on, and slipped the ball to Kent who grounded it near the sticks. The conversion from Strange made it 35-14, and things were looking a bit more comfortable.
Fifteen minutes into the half, a rather long-haired Nilsen replaced Rawlo, to a good cheer from Danny, Smiffy, Wilfid, 'Erbert, Sidney, Fatty, Spotty and Toots, who seemed to be up the other end of the South Stand. Paul replaced Strange soon after.
Leeds were soon attacking again, and gained a penalty for not rolling away. This was in front of the posts, but neither side attempted to kick a penalty all day, and the ball went to the corner once again. The throw-in, though, was judged not straight, to Plug's clear bemusement. Given that it was one of the straighter throws of the afternoon, your correspondent's humble view is that he was right to be bemused.
There were worrying times as the subsequent scrum collapsed, and Tommy was down for some time, holding his neck. After lengthy treatment, and probably thinking of William Wallace, he got back up for the re-set scrum, but he was clearly not right. The Leeds scrum had been creaking, and now it creaked a lot more.
Still, on 59 minutes, Penders broke down field from a scrum (quite how a second row breaks from a scrum, I do not know, but this is what happened). The forwards drove the ball up a few times, and eventually the rather battered Tommy went over. HP was now on kicking duty, but the outcome was as usual, and it was 42-14. At the restart, Mathie replaced the Van Man.
HP, playing at stand off, was adding a new dimension to the Leeds game, with long passes a speciality. One set Biggsy clear, but his attempted inside offload was intercepted. Another set Blacks clear, but he just put a foot in touch, taking out the assistant-referee-touch-judge-linesman in the process. At the breakdown from the line out, Stretch offended the referee, and was sent to the bin.
With 15 minutes to go, the game seemed to be petering out. Esher kept running when they had the ball, so did Leeds, but both teams were dropping it when in promising positions. The game became bogged down in midfield, with occasional breaks for the backs to play some whiff whaff.
Tommy was down again on 75. He got back up, but the Leeds scrum was going backwards and he was pulled off in clear discomfort. Uncontested scrums were now the order of the day, with Tommy replaced by Rowan, and with Esher taking the chance to remove a prop in favour of a slimmer forward. Stretch sneaked back on as Tommy departed.
In the final moments, Kent provided a replay of the deliberate knock on to stop a score. Esher went for a scrum, and their stand off waltzed through to the line. The kick was taken quickly because, at 42-21 with a good few minutes of injury time to play, Esher sniffed the four try bonus point.
We saw against Cov that this referee likes unscheduled rest periods, and there was one now. A pause of three or four minutes, with no players obviously receiving treatment, allowed the teams a chance to gather their strength for the last rites. Leeds got two penalties in quick succession, and headed for Esher's line. The ball was lost, but Esher opted to run from their own line. They were called back for a forward pass and from the scrum the ball went wide. It was taken by a rather pale-looking Jaffa, who went over. HP made the first mistake of the day, repeating his post-hitting trick with the conversion, making the final score 47-21 to Leeds.
As we left, word was that the charge to enter the bar had been lifted. Certainly the calls to fans to visit the bar seemed to have an air of desperation to them. We went to the pub which is, and always has been, free to enter.
What do we take from this one, then? When a bonus point is won in not much over 25 minutes, there's always going to be an anti-climax. This time Leeds lacked the ruthless streak they showed at Newbury, but is that really surprising this far into a long hard season? It's the first time Leeds have conceded three tries this season, which has to be the main concern. Still, it would be churlish to complain about a convincing victory, a 100% league record, and a 13 point cushion in the league. I reckon we'd have taken that in September.
As for individuals, we learned that Biggsy is not an outside centre (the programme named Vickerman at 13, so presumably Biggsy was a late replacement). We saw that Denton has the potential to be a fine player if he can curb a bit of the enthusiasm. We learned that Blacks is now a genuine winger. We worried about whether we'll have two fit props for next week. On the whole, no-one had a really stand-out day, but no-one had a truly bad one. There was a job to be done, and it was done.
Finally, let's give credit to Esher, who kept playing rugby when other teams could (and have) given up. They are on the edge of avoiding relegation, and we wish them well. Those of us who made the trip to Surrey in October remember a cracking club with a great atmosphere and a bar that was free to enter. Given the choice between Esher and the similarly attired Wycombe Wasps next season, I know where I'd rather be ...
Leeds: Goodridge; Blackett, Biggs, Barrow, Armstrong; Strange, Bedford; MacDonald, Rawlinson, McGee, Murphy, Pendlebury, Myall, Clark, Dunbar. Subs Hopcroft for MacDonald (40), Denton for Myall (40), Nilsen for Rawlinson (55), Paul for Strange (57), Mathie for Bedford (59) Rowan for McGee (76). Sub unused: Welding.
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25/02/2009 21:51
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