High Hopes Dashed by Gloucester Backs

There were high hopes amongst the Leeds fans prior to this afternoons clash with Gloucester that the hosts could break their 4 match losing sequence, and for 50 minutes, a home win looked a distinct possibility. That they didn’t, came down to a piece of poor defending, and, arguably, as bad a refereeing decision as will be seen all season.

The visitors kicked off attacking the scoreboard end, and within a minute, Leeds conceded a penalty 30 yards from their line, just to the side of the sticks. The usually reliable Nicky Robinson pulled his kick wide, and the ironic cheer which greeted that turned into a crescendo of noise just two minutes later when Welding made ground to the halfway line, and when the ball came back, Fourie and Wentzel released Tom Denton on a 30 yard gallop to the line. The youngster swotted would be tacklers away like flies, and when Ceiron Thomas added the extras, Leeds were 7 points to the good.

Gloucester got back in the game on 7 minutes when Goodridge dropped a high ball, and when Leeds conceded the penalty, Robinson duly kicked his sides first points of the afternoon. Seru  Rabeni was making his presence felt with some foraging runs and big tackles, and following one of these, Fuimaono-Sapolo had to leave the field looking like he’d run into a bus.

Gloucester were coming into the game, but after seemingly trying to get Vainakolo into the game early on, they then resorted to playing aeriel ping pong, and when Leeds responded, it made a poor spectacle for the crowd. However, only a superb last ditch tackle by Goodridge on Simpson-Daniel prevented a try for the visitors, and when Leeds transgressed again, Robinson duly obliged, and after 14 minutes Leeds led by 7 points to 6.Straight from the restart Leeds were awarded a penalty 40 metres from the posts, and Thomas booted the ball between the sticks to restore Leeds 4 point lead.

The rest of the half produced more sky high ping pong, (which must have delighted our shirt sponsors as their aircraft flew into Leeds Bradford), and errors from both sides, which were probably indicative of the tension the players were feeling. On 29 minutes, Fourie received a yellow card, but Robinson again failed to convert the penalty kick.

Burrell replaced Welding on 30 minutes, and for the next 10 minutes Leeds defended heroically against the extra man, but could have been in trouble if Simpson Daniel had not been greedy in possession. Fourie returned for the last 30 seconds, and Leeds had held out, and went in for their lemons to a tremendous ovation, leading 10 points to 6.
Leeds got the second half underway, and Gloucester immediately broke down the South Stand side. The dangerous Simpson-Daniel kicked forward, but he was blatantly obstructed some 30 yards from the line. Although Leeds cleared the ball, the ref. had no option but to send Thomas to the bin, and in some ways Leeds were fortunate not to concede a penalty try. Once again Leeds were a man light, yet Gloucester seemed content to kick the ball away and not use their extra man to run the ball. The visitors were now though applying some pressure, but Leeds defended stoutly, and with Thomas about to re-enter the fray, the visitors pack gained some momentum close to the Leeds line, and eventually muscled their way over the whitewash , with Olivier Azam being credited with the try. Robinson converted, but with their full complement back on the field, Leeds were still in with every chance, with 30 minutes still to play.

Unfortunately for Leeds, when Gloucester returned the restart into Leeds territory, Goodridge found touch on the half way, and from the line out, Mike Tindall, (hardly the fastest thing on two legs), ran 30 yards through a huge gap before sending Simpson-Daniel racing in at the corner.
Within 2 minutes, a 10 – 6 lead had become a 10 – 18 deficit, and Leeds needed something special to get back into the game. Matthie and Burrell made half breaks, and Lund intercepted a stray pass close to the visitors line, but Leeds had already knocked on, so the scores remained unchanged. Leeds were getting more ball, but basic errors were ending promising moves, until with Gloucester looking untidy in defence, Matthie sent Blackett into a space, and his perfectly timed pass sent Jonny Hepworth round the full back and under the posts. The crowd were ecstatic, but the ref was motionless in midfield indicating a crossing movement in the build up to the ‘try’. The players, (both sets) and the crowd could not believe it.

On 72 minutes Robinson extended the visitors lead to 21 – 10, and with the last move of the game, Tindal again ran 60 yards through a non existent midfield to cross in the corner. The Leeds section of the 5,371 crowd felt the final score was not a fair reflection on the game, but at this level, if you make basic mistakes you will be punished. I didn’t think Gloucester were any better than Newcastle, but they did have pace in the backs, and that is something we are lacking. All the old errors were there to haunt us, threes taking the ball flat, knock ons, forward passes Also, Leeds were the only team in the GP not to get a point this weekend, and one concern I do have is that when Leeds were trailing 18 – 10, they were twice awarded penalties in their opponents half, which they chose to kick for touch. Admittedly they were not easy goal kicks, but, had one of them been successful, Leeds were back within 1score of winning the game. We are not scoring many tries, so kicking penalties is very important.

Still, let’s not get too downhearted yet. Rabeni looked menacing until tiring later in the game, Fourie, Denton and Wentzel were the three best forwards on the field, joined by Clarke when he came on, and Burrell deserves a place in the starting line up. Hendrie Fourie won the sponsors MOM, but my vote goes to Marco Wentzel, who just shaded Tom Denton,

A disappointing result, to an error strewn, kicking dominated game, but it is errors that are costing us points at the minute. Cut these out, and who knows? Carry on and we are in for a long hard winter.