Leeds pay for mistakes
By Haxbytyke
March 23 2014
Bristol won the top of the table clash at Headingley, effectively winning the game in the first 15 minutes with three converted tries, each of which came of the back of some poor play by the home team.
Only two minutes were on the clock when Bristol won a line out close to the Leeds line, and a rolling maul saw them score very easily, the try being awarded to Ross Rennie. Glyn Hughes narrowed the gap with a penalty, and hit the post with another, but just as the hosts were building a head of steam, Nilsen missed the target with a throw on the visitors 22, and they shipped the ball upfield, where more poor defending gave Tipuna a huge gap to cross near the touchline.
Worse was to come when Robinson strode through a huge gap in midfield and sent Nick Coster in for another try. Slowly Leeds gained a foothold, but too often they coughed the ball up too easily. They were not helped by the referee who continually turned a blind eye to the visitors defensive line standing offside, but when he did cotton on, Leeds applied a bit of pressure. Another penalty reduced the gap, and then Ben Harris made a stroming run which broke the line. He passed on to James Doherty, and Glyn Hughes was on his shoulder to cross the whitewash. He converted his own try, and Leeds were back in the game.
Only a desperate ankle tap stopped Holmes racing clear, but Bristol held firm, and the half time whistle blew with the visitors leading 21 - 13.
Hampson replaced the blood stricken James Doherty with Leeds needing an early score to apply the pressure. The early score came; but to Bristol. Leeds lost the ball at the restart, and then lost their own scrum, and from close in, Tipuna was again on hand to cross for another converted try.
The impressive Ben Harris limped out of the game, and Tipuna broke through again only for Rowan to make a last ditch tackle close to the line. It only delayed the next try though, as Gaston Cortes wormed his way over by the posts. Robinson hit the post with the conversion, but it hardly seemed to matter.
Mr Foley had called the captains together three times warning them to keep the discipline in their teams, but he hadn't acted, so it came as something of a surprise when first Graham, and then Rowan were dispatched to the bin. Bristol were pressing, but the 13 held firm, and as if to even things up, Tovey was also shown yellow for pulling back Holmes when he didn't have the ball. The crowd were not happy, but when the 'offenders' returned, Leeds set up a grandstand finish by scoring the best two tries of the game.
Firstly Lozowski broke from his own half, Doherty and Hughes carried the move on, and Holmes was on hand to take the final pass and go round the posts. The clock was ticking down, but Jon Clarke went on a tremendous 50 yard run which ended when he was hauled down just short of the line. The Bristol defence was scattered all over Headingley, and when Leeds recycled the ball it was moved inside for Rowan to spin out of a tackle and score. Hughes converted, the crowd roared, but as Leeds came back for more, they dropped the ball, and Bristol closed out the game to win by 33 -27.
Bristol probably deserved to win, on the day they made fewer mistakes, and punished Leeds for theirs. Having said that, Leeds were not at their best, and over the two league games the aggregate score is 55 - 55, so Leeds need not fear playing Bristol again in the play offs.
A crowd of 3,297 were well entertained, and despite the errors, a number of Leeds players played well. Harry Casson and Mike Myerscough put in a sterling shift, Harris, Sisi and Burrows ran and tackled hard, while in the backs, Hughes and Holmes looked threatening with the ball in hand. For all that, this weeks bottle of fizzy pop is going to captain Jacob Rowan who was rewarded for an excellent display with the try that secured what may turn out to be a very valuable bonus point.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014:04:05:15:22:01 by Wildwillie .
Excellent report but one that doesn't mention scrums once. Whether the game was played within or without the rules is a moot point, but basically we were mullered in the scrum.
A bit odd that MOM is a forward and someone who should be taking the ref to one side and explaining our point of view.
After all it was just a bad at the office!
Don't kick it pick it up and GO FORWARD
Quote:JDH
that and dont play pi$$ poor for the first 20!
First 20 of each half
So there's the lesson, run the @#$%& ragged from the first whistle!
Nice bunch of Bris. fans near us, South Stand in the middle, with good chat and sensible comment throughout, though the lady in the group was very loud, no doubt heard by those on the sunny side all game!
Up the Carnegie TYKES !
Overall it is a learning experience and we need to take whatever positives we can, not repeat the negatives and move on to Notts.
Re Griffin, who knows what has happened, if something has happened than Griffin and Lowes need to thrash it out. Not knowing the full story means anything here is conjecture but whomever is selected needs to bring their A game for us to get promoted.
Our most successful centre pairing has been Burdon and Griffin, for me Burdon has the 12 shirt tied up and we need to pick the right 13 for the game be it power, deft touches or a balance of both. That is ultimately JLo's decision and lets see what happens.
The non-image projected to the public at large is only part of the problem, but the sponsors could possibly help more by promoting LC more; or maybe they do, as I rarely come across them myself.
Maybe the Tigers draw big crowds for several reasons such as star names, perhaps no competition in the area, good facilities etc.
Students for free is always a good idea provided it's foolproof and only the individual concerned can take advantage of it. Many of them may well be your future fans.
Publicity. Does anybody ever speak to Look North? Every soccer side in the district gets a mention on there every week, but I recall it took them all their time to mention LC even when we were in the Premiership.
Why not 'trade-off' match info for free with other clubs in the area so that we then get a mention in their publications?
I also agree with others who are not keen on playing early season games away from 'home' as we did, though of course it's one way of spreading the gospel.
Quote:John R
Nice bunch of Bris. fans near us, South Stand in the middle, with good chat and sensible comment throughout, though the lady in the group was very loud, no doubt heard by those on the sunny side all game!
Up the Carnegie TYKES !
My chums - she's very passionate about her beloved Bristol. Especially when on the road and she doesn't have to drive! If any of you saw the Roth v Bris match on the telly the other week you may've recognised them as they were shown large as life at each Bristol score.
Perhaps you can go away for another holiday soon Ange, during the play offs!!
Quote:Seedub
Aaah fame at last!!! Gotta be loud when you are away
Perhaps you can go away for another holiday soon Ange, during the play offs!!
Quote:Seedub
Aaah fame at last!!! Gotta be loud when you are away
Perhaps you can go away for another holiday soon Ange, during the play offs!!
If you're paying! x