By Oopnorth
February 13 2006

13 times Ronnie Reagan had played against a previous club and never lost. Oh well all runs have to end sometime, but it was a close run thing.

Early pressure from the Tykes with Bulloch to the fore with some strong running led to easy penalty and De Marigny duly put the Tykes 3 points ahead. From the restart a very lively Tykes pressed back into the Bristol half and soon produced a sweeping back line move from a set scrum near halfway to put Doherty clear on the right wing. He showed searing the pace and went over in the corner, De Marigny converted and the Tykes were 10-0 ahead.

A great start had been made with the Tykes showing the quick rucking style and ball movement which has become a feature of their game since December. Bristol had little possession to show what they could do, and Tykes pressure resulted in a penalty where the kick at goal was declined in favour of a punt to the corner. On 17 minutes the Tykes line out drive was just halted, and from the ruck Budget the Bristol second row was sin binned for interference. Keeping the pressure on Tykes opted for the scrum and as it came apart Nathan Thomas twisted through the melee to ground the ball. Try for Leeds and an easy conversion for De Marigny. 17-0 to the Tykes and only Bristol down to 14 men. Surely the try bonus point was a short time away.

Bristol however had other ideas. The canny old boys in the front row began to mess with the Leeds scrum and two penalties in quick succession against Gerber for binding began to turn the tide. Bristol played sensible rugby and recycled possession well as their pack came more into the game. Although they made the occasional break the Tykes cover defence was good, however such pressure did result in two penalty chances for Strange which he converted to bring the score back to 17-6.

The Tykes failed to capitalise on the absence of Budget, unlike the announcer who showed a sharp line of wit when he returned and said that Budgets yellow was sponsored by West Yorkshire Police "anti-social behaviour is not tolerated at Headingley"

The game progressed in this fashion upto half time, with the Tykes unable to string together the good form shown in the early part of the game. A penalty chance was missed by De Marigny and the half closed.

The second half began with Bristol much the livelier outfit and this was quickly rewarded when some strong running by forwards and backs moved play to the Tykes 22 metre line where the big Bristol wing Robinson burst through two tacklers and went in under the posts. The conversion was made and the game 17-13. Clearly the Tykes were bemused and the early script of a runaway win had to be rewritten as it became clear that this must win game was in the balance. As Bristol continued to press strongly perhaps the key moment in the game came when Strange the usually highly reliable kicker from close range missed an easy penalty for Bristol.

The Tykes breathed a sigh of relief and galvanised themselves to start to put on some pressure themselves. Over the next 20 minutes the game ebbed and followed in both halves with the Tykes picking up a 3 penalties and Bristol one to make the score 20-13, 23-13 and 23-16. Although the Tykes were having trouble with the driving mauls of the Bristol forwards in the later stages Bristol could not make this count in terms of try opportunities. As the clock ticked on the Tykes moved up field well and a further penalty opportunity was converted by De Marigny to make it 26-16. By this time the Tykes had regained the upper hand and pushed deep in the Bristol half. Near time a penalty kick was missed as the Tykes ran down the clock and looked for 3 points rather than go for the catch and drive. It was a relief to hear the whistle go. The win had been achieved against strong and competent opponents and the team could go to Sale with optimism next Friday.

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The Tykes will be pleased with the win but disappointed that the early ‘5 point’ form could not be sustained. This was mainly due to the strength of the Bristol fight back which nearly turned the game their way. However an already changed Tykes team did have to adapt to early substitutions of Bell and Morgan. Andy Craig slotted in very well alongside Snyman in the centre and had a solid debut. The Yorkshire Post made Gordon Bulloch man of the match for his dynamic running around the park, and overall the line out went well.

Overall an entertaining game and interesting in the way the visibility of the clock affected the game as the Tykes screwed down the play late on to deny Bristol the bonus point. In different circumstances perhaps the Tykes may have thrown the ball around more to seek the try bonus, but against dangerous opponents being happy with a 4 point win and no bonus for Bristol was the sensible option.