Leeds Tykes were frustrated by not being able to convert possession and territory into points during a warm sunny, autumn afternoon in south west London.
Rosslyn Park scored in the opening minutes of the match when, following a midfield scrum, a chip over the top was picked up by the backs after a lucky bounce (for the home side) for Walker to score. Bradbury converted.
Leeds quickly answered. Venables made a break when Park failed to make a clearance. Dennis crashed over to score his first try for the Tykes. Venables’ simple conversion was successful.
Park scored three tries and gained their bonus point in a little over the next ten minutes. Glover glided through a hole that appeared in Leeds’ defence. Leeds defended well on their line and cleared to their own 22. Park make a break at the back of the lineout ahead of Hay crashing over. The next Park try came from a poor line-out for the away side. Park spotted a gap and run down the tramlines with Strang going over in the corner.
Maguire scored a lovely individual try. He caught the lineout ball then charged, pirouetted and slipped through tacklers’ hands to score.
Ahead of half time, Jukes made a break but was brought down close to the line with only Dixon for support as Park’s defenders piled in.
26-12 at the break.
Park extended their lead further early in the second half when Stanton scored. Holland converted.
Hay received a yellow card after a series of Park penalties when Leeds enjoyed a period of possession in Park’s 22. Despite being one down, the home side stopped Leeds from adding to their tally.
It was not for the want of trying. Brady’s attempt from a short line out was held up over the line. Leeds were hammering Park’s line but fell short again when a second attempt was held up.
Park scored two more tries, through Stanton and Walker. The Tykes’ continued their efforts: Maxwell-Whiteley made a 40m break from deep in his own half. Leeds were unable to break through Park’s defence.
Speaking after the match, captain Jake Brady said: “It’s tough to come down here, but as always, we’ve a squad that never gives up. There was no lack of effort for a young set of lads. It’s a good bedrock to build on.
“If we could have finished with a try from Jukes ahead of half time, it would’ve made a big difference and made the game a lot tighter. We them breathing space to play and we had to chase the game, which makes it harder.
“The scrum was good, which was great. We’ve been working on it. The lineout wasn’t great today, so we need to address that.”
Final score 40 – 12
(HT 26-12)
Our scorers
