Leos began the ‘20s in style with a comprehensive nine-try victory over a spirited Sandal outfit. Whilst the visitors did not lack for effort and grit, they were no match for a Leos side which combined the necessary forward grunt with enough flair out wide to overpower the men from Wakefield.

Whilst the 1st XV battled Yorkshire 1 high flyers Beverley on the main pitch, the 2s took to the sloping back paddock, playing away from the clubhouse on an unusually pleasant January afternoon. Right from the off it was apparent that Leos could make hay up front, despite Sandal having a massive pack (but, bizarrely, no front row). This was shown in the opening five minutes when Number Eight (and M.O.T.M) Jordan Cummings bulldozed his way through several tackles in a thunderous charge, requiring at least three Sandal players to bring him down. Despite this early dominance Sandal had the first big chance to score when their 10, who was a constant threat all game with ball in hand, sliced through the Leos defence and raced down the field towards the line, only to be foiled by an outstanding cover tackle from Leos fullback Paddy Behan. Some lung-busting scrambling defence from Leos kept Sandal out and it was the home side who eventually opened the scoring. Good work from fly half Tom Tweddle and centre Tom Bindloss created an overlap opportunity out on the right, where Cummings showed superb strength to twist and contort himself around the corner flag and dot down.

Never ones to rest on their laurels, Leos then hit Sandal with a second try. This followed a similar pattern with the Tweddle/Bindloss/Nick Burdon axis creating the space, with however an unusual beneficiary as second row Neil Shaw took the pass out wide and romped, giraffe-style, twenty metres to score on the right. Tweddle was able to add the extras to give Leos a 12-0 lead.

The game then settled into a back and forth rhythm for a while, with the odd spicy confrontation up front. Typical of this was a big, arm-free hit from a Sandal player on Adam Ketteringham, to which the Leos captain took exception. Bouyed by this, the Sandal lad aimed to do the same to Big Dave Robinson, which had a similar effect to a man running into a thick concrete wall at speed, earned Leos a penalty and Sandal a “calm down” word from the referee. It was not clear whether Big Dave noticed the impact.

Leos resumed the scoring not long after, with big credit going to winger Sam Bender, brother of back row Joe and making his Leos debut. Good Bender, as he shall now be known, scorched away down the wing and drew in several defenders, finding Nick “Birdy” Burdon in support. Birdy carried well and the ball was worked to within inches of the line, where Kenny Parsons was narrowly unable to bash his way over but did at least tie in enough defenders for scrum half Matt Dallingwater to plunge over. Tweddle added the extras then created another try, taking a pass off the back of a Leos scrum and hitting Bindloss with a crisp flat ball. Bindloss was running a dreamy line and sliced through practically untouched next to the sticks, with Tweds again knocking over the conversion. That concluded the scoring for the first half, with Leos 26-0 to the good.

At half time the discussion centred around maintaining intensity, always a difficult task when the scoreline is heavily in your favour. To Leos’ credit they were able to keep the standard up for at least the next quarter, leading to another try for Dallingwater and a deserved score for Paddy Behan, who menaced the Sandal defence throughout the match with his pace and strength. Unfortunately as the match moved into the final 20 minutes Leos’ intensity began to slip, with tackling and line speed dropping in quality as a result. Sandal seemed to sense this and picked themselves up to enjoy something of a purple patch. Albeit brief, this spell yielded two tries. The first came from Tweddle being charged down by the Sandal Number Eight (and without a shadow of a doubt their MOTM – at once point he made FOUR consecutive tackles), with the second the result of some lax fringe tackling by Leos allowing one of the Sandal forwards to barrel his way over.

Although disappointing, these scores were too late to affect the outcome of the match and Leos continued to pile on the points in attack, with a well-worked backs move putting Tom Bindloss over in the right corner for his second try of a very productive day. Perhaps the highlight of the remaining minutes however was a searing break from Paddy Behan. The fullback bounced several Sandal defenders and raced seventy yards towards the posts, only to be felled literally inches from the sticks. Kenny Parsons, who had inexplicably kept up with Behan, cleaned the ruck which allowed the arriving Tweddle to score the simplest of tries, which he then converted. The match was then rounded off with a deserved and popular try for Good Bender, capping a very impressive debut.

It is difficult to argue with such a comprehensive scoreline. Leos generally played very well throughout, although there is room for improvement in terms of their tackling, line speed and aggression; an improvement which will be needed against stronger, better organised teams. Man of the Match was, as mentioned, Jordan Cummings for an outstanding performance at Number Eight. Other strong showings came from Behan, Good Bender and also Joe Bender, who menaced Sandal’s lineout throughout the game. Next week sees the dual delights of a visit from Cleckheaton 2nd XV AND a Bender vs Bender cheeseboard competition, which truly is not to be missed!

Leos RUFC

Match details

Match date

Kickoff

Team Sponsors

Login