Half Full, Half Empty.....
By apb on 29/03/2004
March 29 2004
By the look on the faces of the Tykes faithful as they were heading in to the hallowed Headingley Stadium, it would be true to say that not many people were expecting a Leeds win on Sunday. In fact, I would venture to say that not many people were expecting to see anything other than a thrashing.
And lets face it, what were the chances? With the entire front row unavailable through international call-ups and injuries, as well as several of the back row, it looked as though - good though the back line are - they wouldn't be given any ball to run with. And with the late withdrawal of Diego Albanese things seemed to go from bad to worse - and it wasn't even Two O'clock!
However, once the match got underway, those pessimists among us (and I count myself in this) were rather surprised by the fact that the Tykes started the stronger, and pressured the Falcons' line from the off. Several good runs from the back-line unfortunately culminated with an injury to Phil Christophers that saw him carried off, and was replaced by Gordon Ross in the 22 shirt. Shortly after, with Andre Snyman playing at left wing, some good handling along the line saw Snyman breeze his way over for the Tykes first try. Newly on, Ross immediately resumed kicking duties and slotted over the conversion to make it 7-0.
So, ten minutes in, and the Tykes playing well. Time to let it go again then? Errmm....yes! Several missed tackles entered the proceedings, and the Falcons continually pressured the Leeds defence. Some desparate forwards defence, predictably resulting in infringements, saw Dave Walder - rumoured to be coming to Headingley next season - put the Falcons ahead with three well taken penalty kicks, and a drop-goal moments later to pile on the pressure. Seven points to twelve, and us pessimists were beginning to get back into our gloomy place.
However, Leeds came back with a superb rolling maul only to be stopped illegally; Ross stepped up and made it 10-12 on the half-hour. TeePee put the Tykes back in front with a great step inside Walder to carge in from thirty yards. Goggsy's place kicking was again on form, and the Tykes went 17-12 in front.
The Falcons came back strongly however, and only an offside infringement prevented a Newcastle try, but the Falcons chose the kicking option, and went in just two points down at the break.
It seemed from the start of the second half that the Tykes once again needed some time to warm up, since the Falcons came in all guns blazing, and it was pretty inevitable that Tom May eventually went over to put the Falcons once more in the lead. However, the wake-up call was there, and some excellent teamwork saw tristan davies go over for what I believe was his first premiership try. Conversion duly got, and Leeds were back on top.
Back came Newcastle, and mark Stephenson fooled the - until now pretty safe - defensive line, and a difficult kick was converted by Walder to put the score at 27-24.
Barely two minutes remained, and it looked as though Leeds had had their chance. But a penalty awarded just inside the ten metre line presented a good opportunity to level the socres, and Ross duly did just that. A barging penalty against Newcastle in the line offered Goggs the chance to win the match outright. Another well taken kick, and it was 30-27. We'd won!!!
Actually no, there was still - unbearably - time left for the restart, and almost immediately Leeds were penalised in turn for holding on at the tackle. Up steps Walder, and levels the score. Incredibly, another penalty was awarded at the restart, giving Leeds the opportunity to win the game with what would prove to be the last kick of the match. A 52 metre effort from Ross was left hanging four or five metres short, and thus the result stayed at 30-all.
ImpressionsThe patched-up pack had an excellent game, none better than Michael Cusack, who is gaining stature with every game he plays. It says something when - after being substituted after sixty minutes by Scottish international Gavin Kerr, the scrum was actually de-stabilised! Tom Palmer also had an excellent game, and - apart from his kicking from hand, which still requires work - Gordon Ross had a good game as well; quite what Duncan Hodge will have thought when Ross took all the kicking duties we may never know!
Scarbrough's move to Saracens also seems less of a loss, having discovered that Andre Snyman can run a bit thank you very much, and the game bid a welcome return to David Rees. The team seemed to play with a great spirit, and never-say-die attitude. Perhaps a bit more of the killer instinct in future games can turn narrow squeak two-pointers like this into five point massacres next time! And with Albanese to come back next week, and with the first-choice pack back on the field next Friday, we can look toward the match at Milmoor with perhaps less forboding that we did this one.