Tykes triumph in twelve try masterclass
The league leaders put on a fine display of attacking rugby to amass a wonderful half-century of points in the first half on their way to a convincing 78-17.
West Park Leeds graduate Ben Turpin followed up last week’s interception try with a score immediately after the kick-off, duly converted by Kieran Davies.
Eight minutes later, Eddie Brown crashed over for what would be his first of two tries on the day, again converted by Davies.
After 13 minutes, Tom Williams found a gap in the centres as quick hands made Lymm’s defensive line splinter, leaving the inside centre to cross for the Tykes’ third.
Tobi Ademakin sealed the bonus point after just 15 minutes, with the Leeds rampage showing no sign of slowing. Kieran Davies showed a slight chink in his armour as he narrowly missed the conversion in windy conditions.
Before the 20-minute mark, scrum-half Will Hardwick made a quick dart from the base of a ruck to catch the defence napping. Davies found his radar again to convert the fifth try before taking a well-deserved rest.
Almost 10 minutes later, Tobi Ademakin crossed for his brace, leaving defenders in his wake as they struggled to cope with Leeds’ relentless attack. Callum Irvine inherited kicking duties on his second debut for the club, further enhancing the Tykes’ options from the kicking tee.
Just past the half-hour, Toby Williams barged his way over as the forwards kept it tight to show their muscle; Irvine again added the extras.
James Magee got himself on the scoresheet with the last play of the half, bringing up Leeds’ half-century in the process. Irvine was on target as the referee sent both sides in for the interval.
As reward for their endeavour, Lymm crossed for the first try of the second half on 46 minutes, as the ball was intercepted down one flank before being quickly recycled to the other for Samuel Brown to dot down. Jack Reynolds converted to give the Cheshire visitors something to savour.
The lively Irvine produced an audacious dummy to get the Tykes back on track, freeing Eddie Brown, who quickly returned the ball back to him as he crossed for a try of real quality. The experienced number 10 added the extras with half an hour to play.
Substitute Henry MacNab crossed three minutes later as the Tykes refused to relent from their ruthless waves of pressure. His first of two unconverted tries was quickly followed by Eddie Brown’s second of the day; a converted try, which was Callum Irvine’s last mention on the scoresheet.
Lymm’s late revival was aided by two unconverted tries from Callum Morris and Alfred Simpson. They looked to push for a losing bonus point as the Tykes continued to rotate their pack ahead of the crunch encounter at Rotherham Titans next week.
MacNab had the last laugh with a try seconds from time to send the Tykes supporters home happy on a bitterly cold afternoon.
After the match, Director of Rugby, Pete Seabourne said: “Another good performance that was a little patchy at times. We did play some good stuff and looked ruthless. Lymm kept plugging away and tried to get a bonus point at the end.
“We’re twenty-two games unbeaten now. We’ve got a big one next week. We can concentrate on that, have a good week and see where it takes us.”
A delighted Jake Brady added: “We are really happy with the first-half performance. When you consider that all the attention from outside the group has been focused on next week, for the boys to come out and perform like that, wrapping up the bonus point within fifteen minutes is particularly pleasing.
“To score fifty unanswered points in the first half makes it hard not to take your foot off the gas. However, when the second half got scrappy, we were able to play a few players out of position and still scored some good tries, which will put us in good stead for next week.
“We know that the Rotherham fans will bring the noise, so we are desperate to get as many people to Clifton Lane as possible. I’d encourage everyone to get the supporters’ bus filled up and get down to support us in such a crucial game.”’
Final score 78-17
(HT 54-0)
Match centre
Our scorers
Thanks to Ben Cropper for the match report.
World Down Syndrome Day
For the match, we teamed with Sunshine and Smiles, Leeds Down syndrome network. Sunshine & Smiles families were invited as guests of the club.
As it’s World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) on Thursday 21 March, we asked you to wear odd socks. And you did! You also raised £175 for Sunshine and Smiles. Thank you for your contributions.
