University Rugby: York 1sts 26-14 Leeds Met 2nds

York showed moments of brilliance and strength to overcome Leeds Met and in doing so, boosted morale by bouncing back from two previous home defeats to Manchester and Liverpool. In foggy conditions not too dissimilar to the smoky aftermath of a recent Wednesday night at Ziggy’s, York’s first-half dominance and a late charge brought them over the line, even after a rallying second-half performance from Leeds Met.

York started strongly and set the tone for the first-half early on. After a scrappy opening in which both teams struggled to retain the ball, 10 minutes in, York were ahead. The first period of sustained pressure from York saw their opponents from Leeds buckle. Tom Bugge, who has drawn much praise in recent performances, opened the scoring. After receiving the ball from the ruck, Bugge broke through two weak tackles to put the ball between the posts. The slow reactions of Leeds Met in getting to the breakdown were punished, and the lead was extended as James Mortimer put a simple conversion between the posts to make it 7-0.

York’s pressure continued throughout the opening period, with Leeds constantly kicking for touch to relieve it, and whilst their work on their own line-outs was good, it didn’t stop York from extending their lead midway through the half. From yet another kicked clearance by Leeds, York full-back Richard Bremner, kicked back inside the Leeds 22. After a fortunate bounce taking the ball away from the Leeds backline, Matt Pollen picked up the ball, before the forwards drove through two rucks, giving Tom Weir the opportunity to break past another poor challenge by a Leeds’ last man and score. Again, Mortimer was left with a simple conversion to slot home and make the score 14-0.

Weir in particular began to show his influence as York grew in confidence that had seemingly been lost following recent defeats, and he claimed his second try in the closing moments of the half. Again, York’s strength at the breakdown was the focus, and Weir found himself pushing through the challenge of three Leeds players to put the ball down, despite claims that the ball had been held up. It was a moment that crowned a man-of-the-match performance from a player evidently relishing a return to 8. With discontent and disharmony spreading through the Leeds camp, it seemed a victory for York was nailed on, especially after Mortimer added the 2 extra points and a focused and accomplished first-half performance by York closed with a score line of 21-0.

The second-half, however, saw increasing sloppiness from York. Harry Pampiglione was sin-binned for committing too many fouls and this seemed to spur Leeds on. Even after Pampiglione’s 10 minute break, they pushed on. Whilst York did well to hold their counterparts for the most part, pressure eventually told and Carnegie were able to bring back the score to 21-14.

With victory looking in doubt, it seemed York kicked into a higher gear, with Pollen’s shimmering footwork a particular highlight. With only minutes to spare, York broke down the right wing where Will Felgate found no Leeds challenge and even managed to cut inside having crossed the line, making it easier for Mortimer to kick for goal and, although he missed, the try sealed a deserved but scrappy 26-14 victory for the men in black and gold.