The Tykes started lively, using the width of the pitch as they played up hill in the first half. The team’s first try came in the centre of the pitch as Junior Nu’u took several tacklers with him before off-loading to Charlie Venables to make the simple score.
Tighe Maxwell-Whiteley kept the conversion low to make sure of its success.
Both of Leeds’ centres and Harry Jukes took the ball to their opposition’s 22 before being bundled into touch. Sam Mace put the first of several big hits in to win the ball back. It was Mosely who scored next as Freddie Painter spotted a gap in the Tykes’ defence. Daniel Lewis converted.
Both teams enjoy periods of possession, which saw the ball go from from end to end, side to side, team to team. Mace, who was lively in the loose all match, forced a knock-on. After a clean exit from the scrum, Maxwell-Whiteley and Jacob Mounsey made good ground before the ball was moved to the far side of the pitch. Kieran Davies completed the move. Venables added the extras.
The away side found Moseley’s 22 on several occasions but were unable to capitalise on their possession. Moseley’s scrum and maul started to look dangerous. They levelled the score after pushing Leeds back 15m from a line-out. Ryan Roach ended the move. Lewis saw his difficult conversion drift over.
14-14 at half-time.
The second half started at a slower pace. At forty-five minutes, Leeds woke up, putting together a series of attacks. Each time they were thwarted, mostly being penalised. It was one penalisation that even the home crowd found head-scratching, which put the home side ahead as Lewis kicked a penalty.
The Tykes kept pressing. John Okafor won the ball at a Mosely line-out, making a break. Josh Ree continued the run and unselfishly passed to Harry Jukes to make sure of the score. Venables’ conversion was successful.
With just short of a quarter of the match left to play, Leeds Tykes were defending their lead, while looking for a fourth try. Moseley piled on the pressure and were awarded a series of penalties as they used the power of their scrum and maul. Okafor was sin-binned when the referee had enough. The extra man increased Moseley’s dominance, allowing Painter’s try to be converted by Lewis who scored his own unconverted try with minutes to go.
Leeds did have a final chance to score when a penalty was awarded for not releasing. The line-out was lost, Moseley kicked the ball out to end the match.
29-21
(HT 14-14)
Our scorers
