West Leeds 32-19 Old Bodleians
The last home game of 2016 for West Leeds saw them move back into second place in Yorkshire Division One.
But events off the paddock said more about the spirit of the game and the camaraderie it brings than events on it.
At 2.05pm members, supporters and visitors came together to celebrate the life of Robert Martin with a rousing rendition of Penny Arcade.
Robert, a member and supporter of the club was sadly taken from us far too early last week. He brought an infectious happiness to everyone he met and celebrated with West Leeds on many occasions. He will be missed by so many.
So to events on the field of play.
Such was the influence of West’s junior development program they even managed to provide Brods with a number 9.
It was the youth, enthusiasm and vision which led to West’s taking a 7-0 lead on nine minutes following some good line-out work.
Five minutes later the versatility of the home side shone through with some enterprising loose play and the exploitation of the narrowest of gaps for the second try, a difficult conversion attempt fell just short. 12-0.
Wests again latched onto Brodleians deficiencies just before the end of the first quarter taking the lead 19-0.
West Leeds were struggling in the set scrummage but they had more to their game and yet again snapped up the chance to make good lax work from the visitors 26-0, 22 minutes gone.
Brods were beginning to break up and the language of motivation was turning bluer and fouler than a lump of Epoisse de Bourgogne. Coach Dan Monk was forced to make two changes and to be fair they changed the path of play.
From that point on West Leeds faced an onslaught from a hard running Brods group and five minutes from half time the visitors got over the line 26-7. HT
If something works, then yes it as an idea to repeat it but when it stops working you need to adapt and this is where Brods group of players and coaches failed to act and that is why it took a further 20 minutes for them to add to their points tally. 26-12.
Brods have a habit of forcing and bullying their way back into games but this can only work for so long and against one of the most resilient line ups in Yorkshire it didn’t work.
West Leeds converted a penalty to widen the gap and take the lead beyond two converted tries. 29-12.
Brods continued their unimaginative approach to the game showing no flair or adaptation and slipped further behind on 74 minutes 32-12, West Leeds having chosen to take the points rather than further humiliate the visitors inadequate organisation.
As the game moved into added time the West Leeds floodlights failed but the visitor finally came on and they added to their points with their best try of the afternoon. 32-19.
It was not enough to rescue anything from this game. They could be forgiven for thinking if possession won games then they would have edged this, the point is you have to convert this into something and they need to start doing this.
West Leeds travel to Heath (Halifax) next week and face a tougher challenge.
