York 34-6 West Leeds
The harsh reality of life in Yorkshire Division One was evident to West Leeds after this defeat, writes Glenn Broadbent.
Wests started out well with some dominant forward play leading to a penalty on eight minutes 0-3.
The visitors continued to press and a second score looked on the cards until a great clearance kick from York put West Leeds under pressure.
Firm defending held the home side at bay before West’s lost a scrum in the bottom corner leading to the first try of the game after 14 minutes which was converted from a difficult position. 7-3.
Much of the next 11 minutes was played out in the middle of the park until West Leeds hit back with a penalty kick 7-6.
If West Leeds thought this was a cue for the fightback they couldn’t have been more wrong. York hit back with a penalty of their own to make it 10-6.
And not long later on 35 minutes the York backs showed their pace and strength with the excellent Tom Newitt going over to take the score to 15-6.
Newitt is by far one of the best players at this level and other sides need to keep a close eye on him in future fixtures.
Just before half time York’s backs were at it again and West’s had no answer. 22-6 HT
The second half started with West Leeds rallying but they simply could not get into their stride as York tackled them out of the game.
West’s held out until the 66 minute when a good rolling maul from the home side lead to a precise break and a converted try 29-6.
And the misery was compounded on 74 minutes when a catch and drive resulted in another try 34-6 and that is how it ended.
Yes, West Leeds conceded 18 points when they were down to 14 minutes through ill-discipline but that should not take away anything away from the overall result and lessons that need to be learnt.
This was the first time since March 2014 that West Leeds had failed to score a try in a game and their heaviest defeat since May 2015.
With a free weekend next week, they need to regroup before big home games against Hullensians and Bridlington coming up.
