By Mark Hazell
November 18 2002

Saints' pack scrambled for a bonus point at a cold and sometimes hostile Headingley. It may have been a 26-19 defeat, and a third reverse on the trot, but the point gained by Rob Hunter's late try may herald the turnaround in fortunes. Saints' pack scrambled for a bonus point at a cold and sometimes hostile
The much-depleted Saints pack was boosted by the return of Robbie Morris
from the England bench (get well soon Trevor Woodman, we need a front row
for next Saturday), but it was a strong Leeds team that struck first in the
fifth minute. After a mess of a scrum just outside the Saints 22, John
Leslie was snagged and from the resultant turnover, Braam van Straaten's
kick through saw George Harder outpace Sleights in the dive for the ball.
The Leeds kicking machine converted for the 7-0 lead.

Three minutes later it was 10 after a penalty for offside. From the
resultant kick-off, Saints finally had a (relatively) prolonged spell of
pressure and forced their own penalty. Normally, Larry would kick the
straightforward three points, but this time, however, he went for a
cross-kick that Scarborough knocked on for a scrum in the corner. Somehow,
with the pack not yet performing and the Leeds defence very "in-your-face",
the ball ended up back on the halfway line where Leslie knocked on. From
the scrum, fly half Davies broke the line, and sent Scarborough in for his
eighth try of the season in the corner. A missed conversion meant that it
was 15-0 after just 16 minutes, and a severe beating was very much on the
cards.

With the penalty count against both teams rising, Saints came back into the
game on 24 minutes with a Larry penalty right in front, but from the small
foothold, another Van Straaten penalty for AB holding on restored the 15
point lead.

A minute before half time, Larry kicked again to make the score 18-6, but
then another encroachment saw Van Straaten attempt a kick from a yard inside
his own half. Much to the disgust of the Leeds fans around me, the ball
dropped just short, but I'd have taken a 12 point half time deficit after 15
minutes.

The kick up the backside was visible. Saints came out like hats on wheels
in the second half, and when Darren Fox stole an overthrown Leeds lineout,
he managed to force a penalty - 18-9 - and then another Tykes transgression
saw the margin reduced to six. Just when it looked like the most unlikely
of comebacks was beginning to roll, another penalty against AB, this time
for not rolling away, took Van Straaten's tally for the day to eleven
points.

Simon Hepher then came on for Darren Fox, with Rob Hunter moving to the
back row, but four minutes later the game was effectively won, when Hall
went over in the corner from a kick through. The Saints defence definitely
looked square throughout the game, and to concede two very similar tries
will surely mean an interesting time at training this week. The conversion
from the touchline was missed, but with 19 minutes to go, the score was
26-12.

The pack, which had played well in the loose, then stepped up a gear and
were rewarded for doing so. After three consecutive lineouts resulted in
penalties against Leeds, a fourth led to Tom Palmer being binned for pulling
JP down. It was a necessary but unpopular decision with the home crowd, and
whilst Saints fans wondered why a penalty try hadn't been awarded by referee
Roy Maybank, the pack got up and drove over the Leeds line, only for the
ball to be held up. The 5m scrum saw the much-needed try arrive though,
with Rob Hunter coming off the back and falling over the line. Larry
converted from out wide - let's just say that it wasn't exactly quiet (very,
very noisy in fact) whilst the kick was being taken.

And then came the moment that probably cost Saints a shot at the draw. A
long Larry kick saw Scarborough knock on in front of his feet deep in his own
22, but with both referee and touch judge 50 yards away, the signal that the
ball had been knocked backwards was given, and the Tykes escaped with a
lineout in Saints half. A shocking decision in keeping with the sort of
luck Saints have had late in games this season, but in fairness to the
referee, it was just about the only thing he got wrong all afternoon.

From the resulting lineout, a poor pass decision from Johnny Howard saw the
ball fed back to Sleights rather than Larry for the clearance and with the
kick being badly sliced the pressure was back on. JP, suffering from bad
cramps, was replaced by Matt Lord, and despite the pack rumbling again, the
ball could not quite be forced into a decent attacking position, and Tykes
took the win. The players and fans celebrated as if they had won a trophy
(not yet), rather than having beaten a severely under strength team.

The youngsters in the Saints shirts grew up big-time, which bodes well for
the future: unfortunately, in my opinion, certain of the senior players did
not perform and were anonymous when really needed. Ripol looks bereft of
confidence; Larry's kicking from hand has been better; and John Leslie
disappeared after the knock-on that led to the second Leeds try. I don't
like criticising players, as they do a job that I couldn't, but as a
supporter you at least expect some pride in personal performance to be
shown. Some of that was missing today. As a result, my man of the match is
someone who always plays with pride. JP may be getting near 300 games, but
he plays every one like it's his last, and drove the young pack on to
achieve a better result than any of us could have expected or hoped for.

And finally, a word about Leeds. The fans, like their team, were in your
face. That's fine on the pitch, and credit to the team for a superbly well
organised defence. On the terracing, there has to be a line between
supporting your team and abusing the opposition team/supporters. Certain
individuals around me crossed that line, which is disappointing as there are
very good Leeds fans (we had great fun in assisting Mally in the Children in
Need fund-raiser). I guess that I may have been unlucky where I stood.