Yorkshire Carnegie
McColl leads Gala performance
By WW
October 20 2013
I went to York today to see the full debut of 17 year old Jack Walker from Settle. I confess to some slight trepidation that such a young lad was being thrown in against a tough bunch of border raiders. After all Gala were once one of the most feared sides in the land........
I need not have worried. Checking the sides out during the warmup I realised that the imminent contest was going to be men against boys and that Jack was in the men's team! Leeds started slowly. Gala got possession and kept it. From deep in our half McColl got the ball, raced forward and then hoofed it 40 metres. Adefender got to the ball but Leeds applied pressure and Nathan Hannay rumbled over for the first try. From that point the result was not in doubt. Leeds ran the ball at every opportunity. The ball carriers, Burrows, Hannay and Smith hurtled at the defence at every opportunity, interspersed with penetrating backs moves. Tries came at regular intervals.
To their credit the visitors never stopped trying and crossed the whitewash as a reward for their endeavours. Young Walker looked every inch the seasoned pro - driving into his opponents and looking for the offload when he was stopped. You could see why J-Lo had such confidence in selecting Jack - he looked right at home in the Leeds pack.
As half time appraoched Wee Stevie sprinted 40 yards to score in the corner and it was 40-8 at half time. The second half saw more of the same . The best try followed a neat cross kick by Hughes behind the defence which was caught by McColl who raced in to score. Stevie also managed the last try of the game , his third as the lads romped home.
So what can we take from this game? Well the forwards looked good - Hannay is getting fitter and better, Smith is back to a good level of form and will challenge Green for his 2nd row spot. Our back row , led by Buzz, continues to do the business. The competition in the front row is intense. The poor Gala pack looked knackered when Harris and Tussac came on!
We now have good competition at 9 &10 and plenty of pace outside them. If our main strikeforce (Doc, Stevie and Holmes) stay free of injury we will see plenty of tries this season. Hopefully this will start next week at Moseley when we get back to the serious stuff.
The only sour note was the alleged attendance. There were less that 800 in the ground when the official count was announced as 1063. Some things never change.
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20/10/2013 18:49
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:10:27:07:26:23 by Gelbel.
For those who didn't go, don't miss the highlights -McColl's 2nd was a belter as he caught it while running not far off full pelt. Blooming marvellous stuff.
Jack Walker can be very proud - as WW said he looked totally at home.
Never was there 1000 there - our 4 legged friends pairs' of legs and cars must've been counted.
Shame on the one who advocated it .
sent off carried off never backed off
Quote:I don't think I've seen Fred get such an opportunity before and his try was a peach!I also thought our locks were auditioning for a start in the centres. Smithy has a great turn of pace. I can't see him playing in combination with Hannay too often though - but together with Callum he's going to be part of a strong engine room.PUDSEY PETE
Thought Matt Smith had a really good game today also liked Fred Burdons try and McColls second try
Gala were completely outclassed by this team - Thought the attempted punch-ups towards the end were a clear sign of that. I like the way that J Lo is trying out his combinations without any sense that he's just giving somebody a run-out for the sake of it. We're developing a flexible match day squad.
In the backs, baby Doc, Griffin, and Holmes are waiting in the wings as well, an exciting season lies ahead.
What impressed me today, and against Ealing, was there was no letting up. The lads got the bit between their teeth, and were relentless. That is how they need to be for the rest of the season.
COME ON LEEDS.
We've been through it all together.
