NIGHTMARE START, FAIRYTALE ENDING
By Ian Todd
January 19 2015
Bristol dashed the hopes of Yorkshire Carnegie with a last second conversion that made the final score 29 - 28. The win took Bristol back to the top of the league, but it was a win that looked incredibly unlikely for the vast majority of the match with the visitors leading throughout until that kick at the death. Should the dynamism, excitement and apparent self-belief of the final seven minutes overshadow what had been a lacklustre, disorganised and uninventive remainder of the game?
Leedshire kicked off the game in near perfect conditions for a game of rugby. Sadly, for the first forty minutes both teams and the officials decided that rugby wasn’t going to be terribly obvious; with reset scrum after reset scrum, poor handling, poor discipline and, for Bristol in particular, poor defence. I arrived later than usual and didn’t get my usual pasty before the game started. With the game bogged down within the football centre circle I went into the Dolman stand to get one. When I came back out we were still having a scrum but it had shifted to the opposite edge of the circle. We once had a game against Sale in which the score for virtually the entire first half was 0 – 0 (and ended something like 0 – 3) but it was a fantastic game of rugby with both sides going at it full tilt. What we saw served up in the first half was dull stuff with little invention and skill.
The second quarter was enlivened for Leedshire supporters with a fine effort from Holmes who ghosted through a defence that seemed to think staring at each other was an effective substitute for tackling. Newsflash – it isn’t. The conversion was a good one and Leeds, sorry, Yorkshire were in front. A lead they were to hold until … In any event this briefly seemed to stir Bristol into life and Gareth Maule almost managed to burrow his way over in the corner but the referee deferred to his assistant and ruled the ball had been knocked on. Bristol were exerting some pressure as the half drew to a close and at last with the forwards encamped on the Leedshire line Marco Mama forced his way over for an unconverted try to leave Bristol, as so often this season, trailing at half time.
Previously Bristol have been far more effective after the break. Not this time. Far from it. In a planned lineout move just minutes into the second period Walker took the ball from the front of a lineout in the Bristol 22 and romped in without a finger laid on him. Bristol at last managed to exert some pressure and a silly penalty against Leedshire at a maul was sent to touch. The catch and drive powered over out left and Mitch Eadie touched down for an unconverted try and 10 – 14.
Hard work for a try is so often followed by Bristol giving away cheap points. Sure enough the same thing happened again although unusually it wasn’t a soft penalty; it was a soft try when Williams collected a neat pass to sprint clear of the disorganised defence for a converted try. The defence still appeared to believe that glaring into space somehow created an impenetrable barrier when Clarke powered through powder-puff tackling (there was more than a hint of a forward pass in there, to be fair) to race in for the converted bonus point try and leaving Bristol staring at a first defeat of the season. What would be a thoroughly deserved defeat also.
Leedshire continued to press forward and Bristol were penalised but the kick at goal was surprisingly off target. With a number of replacements on, less than ten minutes left and with an 18 point deficit, Bristol at last strung together some dynamic play that swept them from inside their half, forwards and backs linking well, phase followed by phase. And Marco Mama over the line at the end of it with a converted try. Where had that come from? Surely a comeback wasn’t on the cards?
Astonishingly it was. Replacements Andy Short and Nick Koster made great ground through a desperate, reeling, defence before David Lemi chalked up his 50th competitive try for Bristol out in the far left corner. The heartbreakingly narrow miss of the conversion left Bristol trailing by six points with just a minute or so left. Matthew Morgan lanced his way into space from fullback, Bristol poured forward and Leedshire could only stem the flow illegally and Jones was shown yellow to leave the visitors with 14 men for what had to be the last throw of the dice for Bristol. The penalty went to touch. The lineout claimed and a superb effort from the forwards shattered the defence. Eadie touched down. Ashton Gate stilled to a deathly hush as Morgan stepped up to kick from virtually the same spot as his previous effort. And the roar of the crowd confirmed that he had nerves of steel as the kick sailed over to take Bristol in front for the only time in the course of the match.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015:02:02:09:49:21 by SenorJuan.
Graham
C'mon Bris,
Stand out in a crowd, wear the Hoops!