By Andycap (on 21/10/02)
October 23 2002

As mentioned in my preview, Petraca were no pushover despite the score line. Tactical naivety on behalf of Petraca led to their downfall. The fact that they kicked away possession and didn’t follow up in a defensive line allowed the Tykes to attack again and again. Leeds from the kick off were up for the game and a good break from Hernan Senillosa saw Gordy Ross put a kick across the field to Scabs who but for losing his footing would have scored an easy try. Leeds applied the pressure and charged down the kick from the resultant lineout only to turn the ball over from the scrum.

First try to Petrarca

A break down field by Petraca saw Diego and Scabs combine to make the ball safe but Petraca ever dangerous through their No.8 Elisara drove towards the Leeds line and the Matteralia crashed over to score their only try of the game.

Leeds responded from the kick off forcing Petraca to give away a free kick taken quickly by Dickens with a good drive by Martin O’Keefe and Rob Rawlinson saw Petraca, penalised for not retreating, Gordy Ross converted.

You score 1, Dickens scores 2

Several phases of play saw Emmo make a good break down the left from which Petraca again showed their naivety and kicked the ball dead in goal. From the resultant scrum Dickens showed a clean pair of heels and scored close to the posts, Ross converting.

Leeds came back from the re-start and from a shortened line out moved the ball into midfield, Dickens again showed his quickness of mind and from a spilt ball in midfield raced past the Petraca defence to score under the posts, Converted by Ross.

Again from the re-start Leeds started to pressure the Petraca line, Scabs appearing to touch down only for the referee to rule that he had been held up and pushed dead in goal. (Scabs asked the ref for a video review, sadly declined). Petraca, who were never going to lie down drove Leeds back and forced a penalty converted by Baroni.

Half Time: Leeds 17 Petraca 10

And then Emmo gets one

Leeds re-applied the pressure from the kick-off and from a scrum 5 metres out Dickens attacked the blindside and Emmo scored. Converted by Ross from the left hand touch line.

Leeds continued pressure saw the Petraca resilience crack and Tom Palmer and Gavin came on for Phil Murphy, Petraca conceding yet another kickable penalty, Ross converting.

Leeds again rang the changes with George Harder and Gavin Kerr replacing Scabs and Holt.

Second try for Emmo

The changes brought additional pressure to bear on the Petraca line and Emmo raced through to score his second. Converted by Ross.

Petraca brought on their replacement Nar replacing Nar, the copious amount of sponsorship on the Petrarca shirts caused a certain amount of amusement, as the whole team appeared to be called “Nar” contradicting the team named in the programme.

Try for Tristan

10 minutes to go Ronnie and Dan Hyde came on, the Leeds effort started to pay off. Tristan Davies whose commitment throughout stood out scored a well deserved try and again Ross converted - the fact is, he didn’t miss all match!

And one for James Ponton...

Hegarty replaced Dickens and a good break by Tristan Davies saw Jamie Ponton score another try. Guess who converted?

Senillosa seals it

Finally in injury time Hernan Senilosa scored his first try for Leeds with Ross kicking the conversion.

Final Score: Leeds Tykes 52 (81) Petraca Padova 13 (39)

To summarise Leeds deserved to win, but take nothing away from Petraca, Leeds were made to work hard and if they can get their tactics right, Petraca would be a match for several of the ZP teams. Gordy Ross deserves a special mention, his game last week was poor by his standards but he made up for it this week with a 100% kicking rate.

After the game John Callard dispelled the term going around about so-called “Fringe” players, by reiterating that Leeds have a squad and as such players are selected dependent on their fitness and commitment from game to game.

Leeds Tykes return to the ZP with Bath away on Saturday. The club intend running a coach - please contact the Headingley ticket office for details.