The ghost of matches past

At this time of year there’s a film I like to watch - The Muppets Christmas Carol. My fellow travellers to Jersey and I got a reminder of the story as Leeds lost to Jersey. And I can’t help thinking some of the cast turned up at St Peter’s too. Leeds were haunted by the ghosts of matches past and present as they failed to capitalise on their dominance and failed to take the points on offer in this poor game of rugby.

The rain that started in the early hours of Saturday morning turned to fine, drenching drizzle as daylight broke over a seasonably warm Jersey. As kick-off approached, the precipitation stopped, the sky (almost) cleared and the breeze picked up. As a result the pitch was playable but heavy - this was visible as most of the kick-offs or restarts were kept low to force the opposition to scrabble to collect the ball off the ground due to the lack of bounce. A mulled wine and mince pie fuelled majority of Leeds supporters congregated in a covered section of Jersey's delightful ground and I think we should've known what the 80 minutes would offer when we lost early lineouts, a couple of wayward kicks from Ford were charged down and a scrum awarded around the 10 minute mark was reset an agonising 6 times.

Eventually, from that nightmare scrum, Jersey were awarded a penalty which was put away and it was only the wind that stopped a second penalty being scored. Leeds started to play – needing a bit of a punch up to wake them up – and Ford levelled the score. With Jersey being temporarily down to 14, Leeds started to dominate the game and, with it, David Doherty ran in his first try of the afternoon, with Ford making the difficult conversion. At 3-10 we were hoping for a late first half score to cement Leeds' dominance and to kick start our Christmas celebrations but it did not come.

Neither did it at the start of the second - Ford missed a penalty. This was possibly due to allowing for a gust of wind that did not materialise and probably not helped by posts, whose heights were boosted by a stick tied to each of the main posts, bending precariously (in different directions) in the wind. A short time later the ghost of matches passed visited as two more penalties were awarded and the option to bring good will to all men (and women) in the Leeds camp was denied with kicks to touch being taken rather than the three points. I turned to Mr Gelbel to say that we've been haunted by poor decisions not to take the points on offer in the past – why we even lost to Esher; last year’s bottom of the table. At one stage, a try did look to have been scored but the referee decided it had been held up. Despite keeping up the pressure, decisions were going against Leeds who appeared to be getting frustrated with the referee. Jersey’s penalties were not making any headway but somehow they broke out to score a converted try to level the score.

By now, Jersey were spending as much of their time off-side as their hooker was unable to throw a straight line-out. And as a result, they were quickly onto loose balls or flooding Leeds players when they were isolated. Burdon and McColl made a break each but the team were not able to capitalise on their hard work. Jersey managed to get close to scoring and Leeds appeared to have quashed the attack when a further serge from Jersey resulted in a penalty try. 17-10. There followed another scrum that saw Jersey pushing before the ball was in and Leeds were not so much pushed as slid backwards in a patch of mud. Shortly after, the Jersey number 10 made light work of a long distance penalty. 20-10.
Jersey were reduced to 14 for the second time and for the second time David Doherty went over the try line. This was following a sensational break and running out of the 22, almost the length of the pitch by Matthew Clark. With time running out, the conversion was quickly taken and Leeds were trying to stop their goose being cooked. Jersey were lucky not to have another breakaway try and it was game over. The home crowd went berserk – they had a famous victory but I do wonder what they have had to suffer in the first half of the season as we chatted to some fans who reckoned it was ‘a great game’, even ‘a fantastic game’.

From 20 to 50/60 minutes Leeds had the opportunity to wrap the match up. I question who makes the decisions - time and again we refuse to take three points offered. Time and again that decision comes back to haunt us. I’m tempted to go through the stats to count them. Am I that naive to think you take the points and only go for touch once the game is safe? I also question the leadership on the pitch. There is no point getting frustrated at the ref’s decisions – ask why they’re being made and stop the errors causing them. I rarely see Rowen chatting  to the ref, nor leading or encouraging the team unless he has supernatural powers of thought transfer I’m not privy to. I am not blaming the captain – there seems to be no ‘senior’ players to step up, support and help lead. As the same errors happen week in, week out how much is down to the way the players are coached and managed? Those who do have the responsibility need to decide how matches are played in the future, or like Scrooge, they could be seeing a bleak future and the odd funeral or two.

What path will Leeds take when they realise they can change their ways in hope of changing the ‘shadows of what may be?’ We already know our early Christmas present of Doncaster beating Bristol has not been delivered. Unless Leeds immediately change for the better I feel our chances of reaching the play offs are, like the turkey, stuffed. While the change won’t happen overnight, progress is needed by the time Plymouth come calling on 6^th January – at Headingley. It’ll be good to be back there – it’s been too long.