Leeds Tykes come back to haunt Rams
Leeds Tykes conjured up some second-half Halloween magic to give their travelling supporters plenty to cheer about, turning a 33-17 deficit into a thrilling 36-33 victory away at Rams. After enduring plenty of pressure from the hosts, Leeds produced a remarkable fightback to snatch the win in the closing stages.
The Tykes’ pack were under the cosh for the vast majority of the game, but dug deep and toughed it out. Rams made the most of their advantage up front, with Alex Ridgway crossing for the opening try, converted by Ross McKay.
Leeds responded through Albert Bradshaw, who was brought down in the tackle but quickly regained his feet and powered on to cross the line for the try. Eddie Crossland missed the conversion, leaving the visitors trailing 7-5.
A sharp break from Ewan Laughton then created the opportunity for Jack Hamilton to score, with Crossland adding the extras to put Tykes ahead. However, Rams continued to exploit their strength up front, with two converted tries scored by Henry Kirwan and Oliver Stirling to establish a nine-point advantage at the break.
Leeds needed a response and Ben Turpin provided it shortly after the restart, showing excellent strength to hand off his opponent and score. The conversion went wide, but Rams soon extended their lead with two further tries scored by Zachary Clow and Ryan Cozens with one conversion to move 33-17 ahead. Rams’ tries had come largely from close-range forward pressure, with the hosts making good use of their scrum and line-out possession to get over the line.
With the game threatening to get away from them, Leeds Tykes found another gear. Bradshaw produced a superb run down the wing, beating several defenders to reduce the deficit before Kristan Dobson finished an excellent backs move from a scrum. Seremaia Bai Turagabeci converted to make it 33-29.
The comeback was completed with three minutes remaining. Turpin broke through and, showing excellent awareness, unselfishly passed to Matt Salisbury to score. Turagabeci added the conversion to put the visitors 33-36 ahead.
Rams threw everything at the visitors in the closing stages, opting for a line-out rather than a penalty in front of the posts to secure the draw. But Leeds held their nerve, overturned the line-out and eventually kicked into touch.
A Halloween horror for Rams, but a real treat for the travelling Tykes supporters. A remarkable comeback and another valuable five-point on the road for Leeds Tykes.
After the match, Director of Rugby Pete Seabourne said: “It’s a really tough place to come and we’ve never won here before, so I’m really pleased with the resilience the boys showed. We picked up a couple of injuries, had to make changes, but we kept playing right to the end and I thought we got our just rewards.
“Rams are a good side and when they get momentum they can cause problems, but I thought our pace out wide and, ultimately, our fitness told. To come back from where we were and find a way to win was a tremendous effort. I’m really pleased for the boys. They’ve worked hard and deserve it.”
Congratulations to Seremaia Bai Turagabeci on reaching his 100th appearance for Leeds Tykes. We’ll make sure the occasion is celebrated properly when we return to The Sycamores.
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