3rd XV
Matches
Sat 20 Dec 2014  ·  Division 2
Eccleshall 2nd XV
5
19
Leek RFC
3rd XV
3rd Team Maintain Winning Run

3rd Team Maintain Winning Run

Marcus Midwinter22 Dec 2014 - 09:20
Share via
FacebookTwitter
https://www.leekrfc.org.uk/tea

Leek Complete Double Over Eccleshall

Saturday 20th December 2014

Eccleshall 2nd XV (5) v (19) Leek 3rd XV

On Saturday, Leek 3rd XV travelled to Eccleshall in what was potentially a banana skin of a fixture. Having narrowly defeated Eccleshall in the reverse fixture earlier in the season, Eccleshall were keen to avenge the defeat and had drafted a few senior experienced players for this fixture. However Leek had the experience of senior Players Luke Granger & Nick Palmer both returning from injury to call on.
Leek's front row had to be readjusted due to the regular props stepping up to the 2's due to injury problems in the 1st so the club ethos of player stepping up or down was evident to see.
The game started evenly enough with not a lot between both sides, However it was Leek who scored first when the combination of the Two senior additions and slick passing enabled Tom Clapton to touch down in the corner, unfortunately the extra points went missing as Hicks kicked wide.
15 mins later it was again the combination of strong running by Granger who offloaded, which enabled Palmer to sprint over the line in exactly the same position as the first try but this time Hicks made sure of the extras to give Leek a 0-12 lead.
With 30 mins gone it was again powerful running from Granger which carried him over for his own try under the posts which also allowed Hicks an easy second conversion to give Leek a 0-19 halftime lead.
The second half saw Leek defending resolutely but continuos pressure eventually paid off for Eccleshall when their flanker drove over after a tap penalty was quickly taken the conversion was missed, but the deficit was reduced. That's how the score remained despite winger Harvey touching down five minutes from time, but the speed of play from which it was worked via fly half Dixie, Palmer and Harvey left the referee to far from play and left him in doubt, so deemed the ball had been held up. This signalled the end of the game and a valuable victory keeping Leek's 10 game unbeaten run going and also top of the table. Capt' Hicks said after.
" having two recovering senior players included in our squad today , not only helped us in the game play, but also gave the regular 3's a tremendous boost of confidence knowing that those players are prepared to help out, which shows the great camaraderie flowing throughout Leek RUFC which is not always evident at other clubs."
The annual 3rds v Veterans game on Boxing day is next then it's a tough local derby away to Stoke on the 3rd January.

Report Author
Rob Hicks

Match details

Match date

Sat 20 Dec 2014

Kickoff

14:00

Competition

Division 2
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Main Sponsor - Altrad
Club and U10 Sponsor - A.W.L Shipping
Club Sponsor - Breeze House
Player sponsor - Mycablebox