Gloucester 28 Tykes 10
Out for how long?
By Gazz on 25/11/2002
November 25 2002
Leeds headed to Kingsholm a greatly improved side and looking to avenge two defeats from last season which saw the Cherry & Whites rack up 108 points. To do that, however, the Tykes would have to break a 14-month winning streak and overcome the infamous Shed.
This was the top of the table clash that nobody would have predicted at the start of the season, but with both teams losing players to international duty, would the game live up to its billing?
Out of Place
The day had started badly with the news that George Harder would be unavailable due to a chest problem, the full extent of which is unknown. With Diego away with Argentina and Gordon Ross sitting on the Scotland bench, Tykes lack of cover in the backs would be fully tested. The shock decision that back row man Alix Popham would start at 13 certainly got everybody talking, although the news that Gavin Kerr – fresh from Scotland A duty in midweek – would start, and that Zac and Dan Hyde had recovered from injury, were warmly welcomed by the travelling faithful. Gloucester, meanwhile, announced that Andy Gommersal would start, despite coming on during England’s victory over the Springboks.
It was clear form the kick-off that Gloucester meant business, with Mercier’s clever switch catching Leeds sleeping resulting in a penalty attempt inside the first minute. Ludo, however, seemed to have left his boots in the dressing room as he pushed his attempt on the post.
Pressure
Gloucester dominated the early play, with Leeds making little headway out of their own half. Solid defending – which has become something of a Leeds trademark this season – kept the scores level. Gloucester did cross the Leeds line twice, the first being ruled as held up over the line, and the second a double movement, to deny the home side on both occasions. Leeds started to make some headway into Gloucester territory, and whilst handling seemed to be better than of late, there seemed no way through the Gloucester line. Ball was continually turned over by the Gloucester pack, who seemed to swarm over everything, whilst Leeds tackling kept them in the game.
Continuous Gloucester pressure saw penalties awarded with alarming frequency, most of which Mercier chose to push into touch, but still the Leeds defence stood strong. It was from a typical surging run from Junior Paramore, however, that Gloucester finally secured first blood. Slick handling had set up the move, which saw Paramore drive into the Leeds 22 only to be stopped short by Scabs and Cammie. However, Leeds were adjudged to have infringed and Mercier calmly slotted the penalty right in front of the posts. Worryingly, however, Scabs had taken a knock during his tackle, and was clearly in difficulty. He was still receiving assistance when Leeds kicked-off, but decided to stay on the field.
Yellow Card
Leeds pressed into the Gloucester half, and a rare handling error by Mercier brought a scrum in Leeds favour. The Shed, however, were more interested in the tackle from Popham which looked alarmingly high. The referee agreed to spoke to the Welshman, but decided not to give Gloucester a penalty – that, and the fact that Popham was still on the field clearly riled the Shed. They were, however, to get their way soon after, with another rash high challenge from Popham resulting in a deserved yellow card.
Gloucester looked to assert their man advantage, and within a few minutes they made it count. An overlap saw Jake Boer run in from 5 yards, with Scabs unable to stop him. The Leeds full-back was then withdrawn – seemingly for a blood injury – and his exit appeared to be cheered by the Shed, such action perhaps explaining the pre-match announcement requesting the supporters show respect and sportsmanship to both teams. Mercier slotted the conversion to put Gloucester 10-0 ahead.
With new bot Peter Lupton (ex-London Broncos) coming on for Scabs, and Chris Hall moving to full back, Gloucester continued to press, and it wasn’t long before they had their second try, Paramore scoring the pack’s 20th try of the season. Mercier converted again, and Gloucester took a 17-0 lead.
Interception
 Try Scorer |
Half-time talk centred on just how Leeds could come back from 13 points down and how well they team had done thus far to restrict Gloucester to only two tries.
The second half proved to be more of the same, with some tenacious last gasp tackling from Tykes keeping Gloucester out. Braam and Mercier exchanged penalties, before three changes in the forwards – Ronnie coming on for Holt, Stewart Campbell for Chris Murphy and last weeks man of the match Jimmy Ponton replacing Dan Hyde – seemed to spur Leeds on and they actually began to dominate. Despite good breaks form Zac and Tris, and drives by the pack, they failed to find a way across the Gloucester line, with the home side tying up the points with a fine try by Todd.
Some fine tackling from the Leeds back line kept Gloucester from extending their lead, but excessive penalties, and a lack of ball retention in the lose, meant the Tykes never really looked like staging one of their infamous comebacks. Leeds never lost heart though, and with Mercier sin-binned for playing the man without the ball, Leeds finished the game on top, but without any more points to show for their efforts.
Thoughts
The game clearly didn’t live up to its billing, but was enthralling none the less. It proved that Leeds still have a lot to learn, but also showed just how far the team has already come. Should we disheartened? Not at all, why should we? We were without key players, playing a back row in the centre, and it was only our second defeat of the season. Did anyone let the side down? Well, Gloucester did score 14 points when Leeds were a man down, but to blame Popham would, in my opinion, be witch-hunting. Overall he played well considering just how far out of position he was and made some excellent tackles in defence. Nobody had a poor game; in fact there was quite a contest for Tykes Man of The Match.
What about the positives? Well, strangely enough for a defeat, I think there were a lot of positives that Phil Davies and co. can take from this match. I’ve already said that 14 of Gloucester’s points came when Leeds were short handed, whilst the dropped passes that have plagued some recent games have reduced. Tackling remains one of our strongest points, and the “cover” players – Hall, Emmerson, Lupton – played admirably.
My man of the match? Well, Zac played another blinder, coming close to scoring on more than 1 occasion, whilst Cammie – as usual – tackled anything that moved. My vote, however, goes to Chris Hall, who tackled like a man possessed, looked threatening coming forward – just failing to put Tris Davies away in the first half – and looked very efficient at full-back when deputising for Scabs.