Leodiensians 24 - 10 Pocklington
Pocklington
again found it hard going at Leodiensians, where they slipped to a 24-10 defeat
in Yorkshire Division Two. Ultimately, it was Leos experience that won the day.
The Leeds side previously had a useful pack, but they have also recruited a number
of ex-Otley and Leeds Tykes players in key positions, and they controlled much
of the play. Leos had all the early pressure but Pocklington's tackling looked
strong, and they should have opened the scoring after breaking out after 20 minutes
of defence. But errors at both ends prevented the Pocklington score then let Leos
in for the opening try. Pocklington were also disrupted by injury which saw them
use both their forward replacements inside the first half hour. And Leos rubbed
it in with a second close range try which they converted from the touchline, before
Pocklington finished the half strongly. In wing Tim Nixon they had the game's
most powerful runner, but a couple of promising moves failed to find a finish
and they had to settle for an angled penalty from fullback Nick Bennett to open
their account. It was end to end stuff for much of the second half. But Leos craft
on the floor gave them the edge, and as Pocklington became increasingly frustrated
by things not going their way they suffered a string of penalties and had a player
sin-binned. Leos took full advantage of their man advantage to outflank Pocklington
for another score, then they sealed victory with a close range effort. However,
Pocklington raised their game in the final quarter and were unlucky on a couple
of occasions when a scoring pass went to ground. They maintained the momentum
and centre Tom Stokes made a midfield
thrust before popping the ball out of
the tackle for replacement fullback Sam Butcher to go under the posts, skipper
Sandy Mitchell converting.
And the game ended with Pocklington making another
strong attack down the left only to knock on with the line begging to the sound
of the
final whistle.