By Loosehead (01/09/02)
September 2 2002

Leeds Tykes 26 Leicester Tigers 13 - it does not get any better than that, beating the reigning Champions in your own back yard... Although the score looks very respectable it was a very nip and tuck match. Leeds only managed to pull away in the last minutes of normal time and scored the second try well into injury time.

With Leeds kicking off, the Tykes forwards wasted no time and were certainly not overawed by their counterparts, winning the ball back they made quite a few inroads and crossed the gain line, effectively recycling the ball.

Leicester secured the ball, kicked the ball deep in to Leeds half with the ball finding touch 3 - 4 metres from the Leeds try line. The Tigers fans were gleefully happy, no doubt they were expecting a Typical Leicester catch and drive to the try line, but it wasn't meant to be. West threw long to the tail of the lineout & the Tykes put pressure on the Leicester throw, and the ball was fumbled. Leeds cleared their line & the Leicester forwards knew they were going to be in for a hard game.

The Tykes won the ball back from a kick-off, & played it out wide. Scottish prop Gavin Kerr took everyone by surprise, finding himself on the charge unopposed from 40 meters out. Like any good tighthead worth his salt he put his head down, went for the line & made a good 15 metres before being brought down. With only 8 minutes gone Leeds were looking impressive and clearly meant business.

On the 11th Minute Leeds had first chance of the points but a miss from BVS kept the scores looked at 0-0.

With less the 15 minutes played Leeds won a turnover when Palmer clattered Healey, the ball was played out wide, and Braam Van Straaten deftly chipped the ball through the Leicester back line. George Harder raced through, picked the ball up, and beating a couple of the Leicester defenders he was away. Harder was tackled 15 metres out but not held, he bounced back up, and went for the line. Two Leicester players held him back from the line so George played the ball out wide to Dan Scarbrough. Scabs went over for the first Leeds try. BVS added the extra 2 points & with 15 minutes played it was Leeds Tigers 7 Leicester 0.

For the next 10 minutes both sides were quite happy to test each other’s defence, probing for weaknesses Leeds defensive line looked good. On 24 minutes Leicester got into game thanks to the trusty boot of Tim Stimpson.

At half time Tykes were leading 7 - 3.

Leeds extended their score to 10 –3, but then Leicester struck. Leeds captain Mike Shelley lost the ball in contact, & Leicester attacked, recycling the ball from side to side. In the 56th minute Leicester flanker Neil Back put in Austin Healey in the corner for a try, bringing Tigers within 2 points of Leeds, Tim Stimpson bagged the conversion it was now Leeds 10 – Tigers 10.

Leeds though never allowed this score to worry them and they merely went back at the Tigers even more. It was shortly after this that the Tigers found themselves down to 14 men. After a quick throw in at the line Ben Kay, who was making his way back onside had enough and clattered Kerr from behind. 10 minutes rest for you Mr Kay!

Ross missed the penalty & the Tigers went for the silly re-start on the 22 but they were bundled back, and knocked on. With the scrum just outside the 22 Leeds took a great strike and the ball was played out to Ross who snapped over a great drop goal from just shy of the half way line to push Leeds in front 13-10.

Again the Tigers struck back with another penalty to level the scores at 13-13 with around 7 minutes remaining. Leeds again went at Leicester and were rewarded with a couple more penalties to move them 6 points ahead, 19 – 13. Time was almost up, but Leeds were still not finished, after another good run by Harder the ball was re-cycled and Dan went over for his second try of the game. Gordon Ross slotted the conversion, and Leeds were the winners 26 -13.

Leeds Tykes scorers:
Tries: Scarborough (2). Conversions: van Straaten, Ross. Penalties: Ross (3). Drop Goal: Ross.

Leicester scorers:
Try: Healey. Conversion: Stimpson. Penalties: Stimpson (2).

Player ratings

15 - Dan Scarbrough (took his tries well) - 8
14 - George Harder (very solid going forward) - 7
13 - Tristan Davis (superb in defence) - 7
12 - Braam Van Straaten (injury robbed him but he looked good) - 6, Replaced by Hall - 7
11 - Diego Albanese (looked dangerous going forward, tackled well) - 7
10 - Gordon Ross (gave the backs dimension, kicking was wayward at first but changed into his kicking boots at half time) - 9
9 - Derek Heggarty (wonderfully annoying scrumhalf, the battle for the #9 shirt this season is going to be a humdinger) - 8
1 - Mike Shelley (led from the front as usual, contained Tournaire) - 8.5
2 - Mark Regan (a star - what a performance, has already won over the Leeds fans, won his battle with West hands down, throwing was superb, we love you "Ronnie", Sky Sports MOTM) - 9
3 - Gavin Kerr (contained England Prop Graham Rowntree, a good first half trundle) - 7.5
4. Chris Murphy (battled well against Johnno, took plenty of lineout ball, battled hard in the loose - top man) - 7.5. Replaced by Campbell (solid work grafted well) - 7
5. Tom Palmer (looked every inch an England player, gets better & better, did the donkey work in the forwards and tackled like an extra back row) - 9.
6. Cammy Mather (hopefully Geech was watching, this man should be back in the Scottish side, tackled anything that moved, overshadowed his illustrious counterpart Kronfeld) - 9
7. Dan Hyde (hunted in tandem with Mather, made the all-important tackles supported the backs) - 8
8. Issac Feaunati (looks more streamline this season, made some solid runs, supported flankers well) – 7.5

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