Leeds leave it late for try bonus point
Leeds Tykes secured a valuable try bonus point despite a 36–28 defeat away to Blackheath in an open, entertaining contest. The visitors made a confident start and opened the scoring through the boot of Seremaia Bai Turagabeci, who converted two early penalties to put Leeds 0–6 ahead. Blackheath responded by winning a line-out against the head and working the ball wide for Tom Emery to score the home side’s opening try.
Leeds struck back with their first try following an excellent piece of awareness. Nathan Greenwood kicked the ball ahead into space, allowing Ben Dixon to sneak in between two defenders and score in the corner, restoring Leeds’ lead at 10–13.
Blackheath regained momentum before the break, scoring through Jake Hennessey and Finn Osborne as Leeds were punished for decisions inside their own five-metre area, attempting to run the ball out rather than clearing their lines. Billy Harding scored on the brink of half-time, with successful conversions by Matthew Dalrymple for tries three and four. The hosts took a 24–13 lead into half-time, a half in which their scores came from poor decision-making by the Tykes.
Leeds came out for the second half more determined and kept hold of the ball better. There was no score for 30 minutes of the half, before Blackheath’s Hennessey found a gap for his second try of the afternoon. Leeds’ second try was one of the highlights of the match. Eddie Crossland sent the ball high into space, where Albert Bradshaw gathered superbly before running through contact, bouncing off multiple tacklers to score his first try of the afternoon.
As the game opened up late on, Ed Scragg added the home side’s sixth try, which was converted. Leeds then went into overdrive to finish strongly. Bradshaw completed his brace out wide before Jonny Teague spotted a space and crossed in the final moments, following sustained Leeds pressure on Blackheath’s goal line in a last-gasp attempt to secure a fourth try.
While Blackheath held on for victory, Leeds’ four-try haul ensured a deserved bonus point from an exciting and hard-fought encounter.
Speaking after the match, Director of Rugby Pete Seabourne said: “Although I’m disappointed with the result, I thought the resilience the players have shown, the fight and the determination to come down here with a really patched-up team, was excellent. We’ve done really well getting one bonus point out of it. The players have done well to produce the performance; we had one real training session on Thursday with four new lads coming in. They’ve fitted in really well – Albert with two tries, and Nathan and Dylan making major contributions.
“I’m really pleased for the lads. We asked for a reaction after last Saturday because that wasn’t us, and we got that reaction. Hopefully now we can come out of this one without more injuries and put in a good performance against Rotherham Titans at AMT Headingley Stadium.”
Head Coach Pete Lucock added: “I’m really proud of the boys. They stuck in and got probably what we deserved from the game. In the first half we didn’t execute as well as we should have done, gifting them some pretty soft tries. In this league you can’t really do that and give teams a head start.
“We showed some really good intent in the second half and probably didn’t get the rewards we should have done. But that last 10–15 minutes, where we were brave with the ball, moving it really well, showed everything we needed it to be. That gives us a really good platform going into next week.”
Dylan Hodkinson and Albert Bradshaw are both dual registration from Sale Sharks
Huw Davies on loan from Sale FC
Nathan Greenwood dual registration from Newcastle Red Bulls
Leeds Tykes v Rotherham Titans – Buy your tickets NOW!
On Saturday 20 December at 15:00, AMT Headingley Stadium comes alive with festive cheer as the Leeds Tykes take to the pitch in a battle for Yorkshire bragging rights. Find out more and buy your tickets now! We are proud to announce that the match is sponsored by the Caddick Group and Titan Wealth, our Premier Partner.
