Today the Leeds Carnegie squad head north to Kingston Park, Newcastle for the second leg semifinal playoff. A win or draw today will see the lads in a two leg playoff against Bedford for a place in the Premiership. From all over Yorkshire fans will be heading for the A1. Most of us thought promotion this season was a bridge too far. Today some of us are starting to think an upset is on the cards........
Team selection for today's game threw up a couple of surprises. The Falcons are keeping an unchanged lineup, much to the consternation of thier supporters. For me the nice surprise was the inclusion of young Beck who has been out since the Otley Bedford game. A few tweaks to last week's team see Chris Walker and Craig Hampson on the bench with James Docherty and Ryan Burrows starting. Walker can feel a bit unlucky as he had a big game last time out. Philips replaces Smith in the 2nd row and our front row is 3 from 6 excellent players.
Philips will need to put in a big shift today. Our second row has been a source of strength all season. Our scrum looked good on Monday so we need a repeat performance from the pack. Diccon has only made one change in the backs which is sensible as Burdon and Griffin finally "clicked" on Monday. Dave Docherty did not see much ball in the first leg. Today he could be our match winner - a role he has taken on so many times!
An early score for us will put immense pressure on a Newcastle team already wieghed down with expectation. Chasing a two score lead in a second leg tie is not a good position to be in.
In a poll on here 57.14% of us (including myself) thought that we would get into the top four but miss out on promotion so the lads have already met our expectations for the season before the 1.15 kick-off. Win lose or draw today the squad have give us all something to look forward to next season.
Today we may be Leeds Carnegie but we are also Leeds -united!
C'mon Leeds!
Matchday thread
Posted by: TykesRugby.co.uk (IP Logged)
Date: 12/05/2013 08:31
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:05:24:20:53:25 by Wildwillie .
Cold, damp and blustery sums up the weather. Such a change from last weeks glorious affair. We got beaten up at KP earlier in the season, no way will that happen today.
Finshed 15-6. Brilliant defence but never really looked like doing it. Couldn't afford sloppy errors on the few passing moves we had. Guess we all shout for Bedford now, if only to see if there are any more shenanigans with the RFU!
Great effort...so nearly...80% a Premiership side with so many good players retained to build on. These lads should feel very proud of their performance...have a good rest...and all the way next season!!!!!!!!!!!Thanks for a great year's entertainment.
Thought Gopperth missed 3 . Plenty of effort and good defence but why did we resort to a kicking game......which we are woeful at. Good luck to Newcastle next week.
My MOM - Scott Freer. Tackled like a mad man. The wet forced us to kick and their kicking game was better than ours. In truth, despite an heroic performance, the game was as bad as their John Smiths.
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