By RtR on 27/09/2003
September 27 2003

The first ever Zurich Premiership Yorkshire derby resulted in a resounding victory for the Tykes, who ovecame their local rivals 23-13, in front of 4842 fans – far fewer than the club was hoping for.

Furious start

The game started at a furious pace, as would be expected, and for the first 10 minutes it was Roth who ran the show, tearing into the Tykes with some robust driving from their forwards, with No. 8 Geraint Lewis to the fore. The Roth fans voices rang out across Headingley, and one could be forgiven for thinking that the game was taking place in the south, rather than the west of the county. Two penalties from Phil Jones were rattled up onto the scoreboard before the Tykes had even had any meaningful possession in their opponents half, and only desperate goal line defence prevented a Roth try. It was intense stuff from the visitors, but an intensity that the Titans could not maintain. As the game went into its second quarter, a pattern emerged, with the Tykes starting to dominate both possession and territory. As the Tykes applied pressure in the Titans half, the mistakes came, and Hodge kicked the Tykes level. 20 minutes gone, and the game was 6 a piece, and the Tykes started to turn the screw.

The remainder of the first half was all Tykes: Leeds started to make in-roads into the Titans midfield by running their forwards at the Titans defence, with both Rigney and Powell gaining yardage through some punishing drives. Liam Botham started to look dangerous in the space created, and made two superb breaks which should have resulted in scores. It was to be a pattern that was repeated throughout the rest of the game, with the Tykes creating many opportunities, but failing to put them away. Two or three glorious overlaps were missed, with Dan Hyde and Matt Holt at fault. Nevertheless, it was only a matter of time before the first try came. The Tykes made in-roads into Titans territory, and loan signing from Natal Sharks, Ryan Walker, dived over from a ruck for a debut try. Hodge converted, half time 13-6 to the Tykes.

Tykes Dominant

The second half continued in much the same vein, with the Tykes controlling possession and territory. Roth tried to break the shackles, but the Tykes first up defence and tackling were awesome. Roth made little ground, Phil Jones often kicking possession away because he had few other options. After 50 minutes, the second Tykes try came, with Matt Cardey going over unopposed for a great score, but Hodge missed the conversion. Roth tried to hit back straight away, and poor restart technique allowed Roth to gather the ball, but Roth infinged at a ruck, and the chance was missed.

On 63 minutes, the best try of the game came from Botham, after a powerful yet patient build up from the Tykes involving both backs and forwards, moved the ball from their own 10 yard line to the try line. It was just reward for Botham, who had a great game in defence and attack. Hodge again missed the conversion, 23-6.

Other chances went begging for the hosts. Phil Christophers looked like the exceptional talent he is with some breathtaking running. For Roth, a late try by John Benson was but consolation, and represented their first meaningful three-quarters move of the game. But it was too little too late, and the Tykes were victoroius.

The Good and the Bad

For the Tykes, it is obviously great to get a mark in the win column, and we dominated 90% of the game. Roth had a big pack, but we competed well up front, and our defence was superb. The set pieces were vastly improved form the Bath game, but still require work, and the likes of Hooper, Rigney, and Powell had good games. It was good to see forwards carrying the ball from deep. The main negative is that the score should have been far greater, several try scoring chances were missed, and Hodge missed a fair few kicks. In the backs, Botham looked accomplished at inside centre, and Christophers is a devastating runner. Cardey was assured at FB, and Walker had a great debut. Lots of positives then, but plenty to think about going forward.

As for Roth, it is difficult to see where the inspiration will come from. They never controlled field position or possession, had few clean breaks, and lack that most valuable of commodities – pace. Unless they seriously up their game, this could sadly be the last Yorkshire derby at Headingley for some time.

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