Match Report: Edinburgh Gunners 19 Leeds Tykes 9
By baldur_the_super_leeds_fan on 12/1/2004
January 12 2004
Friday night in Edinburgh, the Heineken Cup, and a chance for Leeds to cover themselves in glory…or at least make strides towards the knock-out stages of the competition. But it turned out to be another night of missed opportunity, not to mention missed passes.
It had all started so well too. The Tykes were 3-0 up inside three minutes as Tim Walsh, replacing Ross in the starting line-up, slotted over the first of his three penalties (although a combination of getting to Meadowbank 5 minutes late and a dodgy scoreboard meant we were unaware that Leeds were in front!)
Brendan Laney, standing in as the Gunners skipper in the absence of the injured Blackadder, levelled the scores in the tenth minute only for Walsh to restore the Tykes lead two minutes later. At this stage it was looking good for the Tykes, with the forwards winning quick, clean ball and only some unfortunate handling stopped them increasing their lead. Palmer and Little Murph in particular looked impressive, winning their own lineouts and denying the Gunners as they kicked a penalty into the corner.
At the end of the quarter Walsh kicked the third of his penalties to put Leeds 9-3 up, and minutes later almost put the Tykes in a commanding position as a great run had him heading towards a certain try, only to be denied by a last-gasp tackle by Blair. Blaney reduced the deficit to three points after half an hour and shortly after Leeds were reduced to 14 as Little Murph was sin-binned for handling in the ruck. Cue some desperate Leeds defending as half-time approached, and although the Gunners pack were starting to get on top, Leeds made it to the break still 9-6 in front.
The second half. Now what is it about Leeds and second halves? On far too many occasions they do well in the opening 40 minutes only to falter after the break. And so it proved yet again, with Laney putting the Scots level just after the restart. Yet more ball turned over, and more handling errors made for a scrappy game, and though Leeds did well in the lineouts, the forwards seemed to flounder during the rucks and set pieces. Then Laney slotted over his fourth penalty of the match to give his team the lead for the first time, but worse was yet to come! Following a charged down drop goal attempt on the hour mark the Gunners forwards drove over the Leeds line for the only try of the match, which was converted by Laney to put the Scots 19-9 in front.
Shortly after this, Cardey was replaced by Gordon Ross who came onto the field welcomed by a crescendo of boos from the home supporters, and Leeds appeared to find some new direction although still no way through the Gunners defence. Desperate attempts by the Tykes to keep the ball alive in the dying minutes and get the score that would at least give them the bonus point all came to nothing, despite the exhortations of the small but very vocal ‘Yorkshire Barmy Army’ who had heroically kept singing all through the game!
So the majority of the 5000+ crowd went home happy. The Tykes fans went into Edinburgh (or in our case Glenrothes) to drown our sorrows and think about the return at Headingley next Sunday. And then? Well with home games against the Gunners and Toulouse, and the Ospreys away, getting through to the knockout stage of the Cup may not exactly be Mission Impossible but it is looking unlikely. But hell, I’m an optimist, my glass is always half full, so like PD, I like to think that we CAN still make it!
ROLL ON NEXT SUNDAY!