Saracens 23 Leeds Tykes 29

19 Points....
By Tukey
September 27 2004

On a wonderfully warm Sunday afternoon Leeds Tykes travelled to Vicarage Road, home of the Saracens and secured their first win of the season.

 

Within three minutes of the kick off Tykes were ahead through a Gordon Ross penalty and never lost the lead.  Tykes were the quickest to settle into the swing of things and dominated the opening half hour, which saw Tom Biggs score in the corner.  This try was a result of constant Tyke forward pressure which eventually saw the ball spun wide to Biggs we headed straight for former Tykes player Dan Scarbrough.  Biggs stood Scarbrough up and then went round him into the corner. Ross added the conversion to put Leeds 10 points ahead. 

 

Sarries replied with a try of their own.  From a Tykes lineout, which went horribly too far over the top, Sarries secured the ball and after some quick hands from Johnson and Sorrell saw winger Bailey go over in the corner; Little converted.  Shortly after this Little missed a ‘sitter’ of a penalty straight in front of the posts, 40 metres out.

 

Tykes, who had found a new mental belief in themselves, took the game to Saracens, with Diego Albanese, Chris Bell and Andre Snyman leading the charge. Sarries were forced to infringe to slow, the now rampant Tykes.  Ross took the opportunity to remind Phil Davies that on a good day he is as good as anyone and secured a three further penalties bring the half time score to Sarris 7 Tykes 19 and his personal first half tally to 5 out of 5.  His decision-making was spot on and he mixed the game well.’

 

The half time entertainment wasn’t up to much and I’m sorry to say that I was part of it, loosing the ball catching competition’ by one catch to nil.

 

The second half saw a much more determined Saracens take to the field and some strong running from their forwards gave them good filed position.  Leeds held firm and Sarries only managed two penalties from the boot of Little.  Ross then extended the Tykes lead with a further penalty.

 

As the players became fatigued in the unusually hot sun the match started to open up with both sides making the most of the space that started to appear.  Sarries had a couple of chances to pull back the score but poor handling and bad decisions were their downfall.  Tykes too had their chances and made better use of them. From a lineout outside the Sarries 22, the ball was driven close by the forwards and then a move in the backs saw Andre Snyman break a couple of tackles to barge his way over in the 74th minute.  Ross converted taking his personal tally for the day to 19 points and the score to 16 – 29.

 

Sarries had a last 10 minute rally that saw them go close to the Tykes try line, only for another bone crunching tackle from Biggs to kept out centre Johnson for a certain try.

 

At this point it is worth mentioning the Tykes defence; it looked solid all day and there was a new determination to the Tykes that I have never seen before.  In previous matches I believe they would have folded under the pressure of the attacks, like the ones Sarries were making, but today they stood strong and the players played for each other. 

 

Sean Davey, the referee, had a good match but added seven minutes of injury time, where they came from only he knows.  In this time Sarries claimed a bonus point with a try and conversion from Little.  The final score 23 – 29.

 

Scorers:         

 

Saracens:                    Tries: Little, Bailey.       

                                   Cons: Little (2).

                                   Pens: Little (3).

 

Leeds Tykes:               Tries: Biggs, Snyman.

                                   Cons: Ross (2).

                                   Pens: Ross (5).

 

 As a unit the Tykes forwards played well. There was plenty of movement and running from deep, which gave both Ross and Dickens options. They drove close to the breakdowns sucking in the opposition leaving space wide for our backs who played with new vigour.  The ball retention had greatly improved and this also helped to secure the win.  The introduction of Tim Stimpson saw Albanese move to the wing and Rees leave the field.  Stimpson looked strong under the high ball and made several of his trademark clearance kicks.  On this performance it looks like the team is balanced has ‘clicked’ with each other.

 

In conclusion it would be hard to single out any one player for man of the match. Ross, Biggs and Hooper, who took some great lineout ball, all deserve a mention; but it is Diego Albanese who I thought had the best all-round game today.  His counter attacking, positioning on the field and all-round commitment was without fault.