Tykes show signs of promise in ‘best yet’ display
The match was sponsored by Linley and Simpson.
Director of Rugby Pete Seabourne heaped praise on his side’s ongoing development saying that their unbeaten start to the season was a huge step in the right direction.
He had just seen his side remain unbeaten courtesy of a fine attacking display, which ultimately was enough to overcome a spirited Hull Ionians.
The match finished 37 – 25 after a see-saw encounter, where both sides showed real potential for the remainder of the season.
Many Tykes’ players deserve honourable mentions for their fine individual performances with Rugby Paper Star Man Ben Dixon getting the nod ahead of Chris Bell and Jack Smith who were immense in the pack.
James Watts opened the scoring with a penalty: the choice to opt for the points set the tone for what turned out to be a close encounter, which the scoreline may not do justice.
Lewis Minikin levelled on eleven minutes, and it took Toby Williams’ twenty-first-minute try to finally break Ionians’ defensive resolve. The try was converted by Watts.
Not to be forgotten, the visitors from East Yorkshire came to the party with several examples of free-flowing rugby. Perhaps the best of these moves was finished off by Alfredo Celella, who rode out a last-ditch tap tackle to keep his composure and score. The missed conversion had Leeds still in a narrow lead.
Ben Dixon got his just reward, scoring beside the posts on the half-hour mark to give Leeds a half-time 17 – 8 advantage, after Watts’ conversion.
The first ten minutes of the second half were beset with errors from both sides. However, the game sprung back into life as a rampaging Jack Smith ran a fine line through the centre channel to power his way over. The bonus point try was unconverted.
The aforementioned Celella continued to frustrate the Tykes defence with his relentless speed on the edge. Unsurprisingly, he created Ionians second try with Lewis Minikin being the beneficiary of his wing’s industry.
The right-wing wasn’t done yet and touched down for his second try shortly after James Watts had tagged on another three to the scoreboard. Minikin narrowly missed a difficult touchline conversion.
Ollie Williams opened his try-scoring account for the Tykes with, what appeared to be a well-worked training ground move.
Not to be outdone, Ionians pushed hard to take something tangible back across the M62 for their efforts. Ultimately, Cameron Burnhill’s last-gasp try meant that they took home a richly deserved try bonus point.
After the match, Director of Rugby, Pete Seabourne concluded: “September done. September won 4 from 4. I’m really pleased. We know that there is still lots to work on but we are getting better: some good bits of attack, we were good in some periods defensively”
Man of the match Ben Dixon: summarised by saying: “That was probably our best overall performance so far. We wanted a better attacking performance this week and I think we really stepped up. We have real depth in our squad now and I think the re-jigged lineup demonstrates that there is more than one way to skin a cat.
“Overall, our main focus today was on patience, and I think we showed some strong developments there, which is promising as we head to Billingham next week.”
⌛ Final score 37-25
⏳ (HT 17-8)
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ℹ️ Match centre
✍️ Thanks to Ben Cropper for our match report
