Tykes triumph in emphatic Exiles win
Leeds Tykes were brimming with confidence after an emphatic 57 – 10 victory over recently relegated London Scottish at the Sycamores.
Leeds Tykes Director of Rugby Pete Seabourne was visibly delighted with the result, saying: “That’s the best performance we’ve put together during our time in National 1. Everything worked well, we controlled the game by having a strong set-piece and thoroughly deserved our victory.”
The hosts got off to a wonderful start, scoring with their first attack through winger Charlie Venables. He rounded off a fine team move, showing great composure to run around the back and dot down between the sticks, making it the simplest of conversions for Eddie Crossland.
Leeds remained on the front foot from the restart, scoring again three minutes later through full-back Kieran Davies, who showed great feet to weave his way through the defensive line and dot down. Crossland’s conversion went narrowly wide.
Ten minutes later, the Exiles got themselves on the scoreboard when flanker Joseph Harmen spotted a gap in the Tykes’ defensive line and sprinted through to score. Oscar Yandall pushed the wide conversion to the right of the posts.
Leeds won a scrum just inside their own half, after which the ball was shifted wide to Venables, who broke down the wing to good effect, laying the platform for quick ball. Ewan Laughton recycled it quickly and, three passes later, it was fed to Matt Salisbury, who scored easily under the posts. Crossland added the extras.
Just before the interval, London Scottish responded with a try of their own from hooker Harry Clayton, who found himself at the back of a dominant maul to narrow the half-time deficit to 19 – 10.
Leeds started the second half strongly, dominating possession with repeated visits to the opposition 22, eventually paying off through Salisbury, who crossed for the bonus-point score on the back of some clever play from his half-backs. Crossland converted to extend the Tykes’ lead.
Six minutes later, Leeds scored again after a superb backs’ move which started when Crossland’s kick was caught by the wind. Ben Dixon somehow kept the ball alive, finding a pass out wide to his winger, who showed real pace before feeding Salisbury on his inside shoulder to cross for his hat-trick score.
The Tykes’ backline had clearly spotted weaknesses in the wide channels of the Scottish defence, quickly getting the ball wide to George Worthington, who sliced through several defenders to score untouched. Crossland added the simple conversion.
Matt Casselden became the next try-scorer, forcing his way over from short range to cross out wide. Crossland’s conversion attempt drifted wide.
Kristan Dobson made a break from first receiver after a strong scrum on halfway. He looked certain to score but was hauled down just short of the line. The ball was quickly recycled and, two phases later, Dobson popped up on the other side to score. Crossland converted to bring up the half-century.
Dobson scored again in the last play of the game as a Scottish attacking phase was intercepted, giving him the freedom of West Park to race under the posts. Crossland converted easily to give the Tykes a final score of 57 – 10.
Pete Seabourne added: “Everything came together nicely. The two lads from Newcastle (George Bolam and Reuben Parsons), stood up and they made a difference. I’m really pleased today.”
Hat-trick hero Matt Salisbury summarised the game by saying: “I think the game was outstanding. The lads in the front row really put us on top. It’s easy when we’re going forward, and when those lads are pushing us forward, we can score tries.
“I was on the end of three easy opportunities, but you’ve got to be there to score them. It was great to be back out there and I think it was a great performance by all the boys.”
Head coach Pete Lucock said: “We responded tremendously to a difficult week’s training. We should take confidence from this moving forward as although we are not yet the finished article, we have shown how well we can compete with anyone if we play to our strengths.”
⌛ Final score 19-10
⏳ (HT 57-10)
👈 Scoring for Leeds Tykes
ℹ️ Match centre
🙏 Thanks to Ben Cropper for our match report
Player of the Match
Ewan Laughton was named Player of the Match for the way he controlled the game.
Ewan was presented with a bottle of Prosecco by media volunteer Susie Woffinden, alongside Commercial Manager Rob Crawley.
After making his Leeds Tykes debut, George Bowlam is presented with his club tie by Director of Rugby Pete Seabourne.
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