Old Yards 1sts 42 - 22 Leek
A man of the match performance from Scrum Half Lee Purdy resulted in Old Yards bouncing back from three successive defeats. Yards dominated the game throughout the match against Leek, who battled well during spells in the match. Old Yards started the game with some changes from the previous games, with the introduction of Jamie Walton at fly half, Phil Painter moving to back row and the impressive Adam Walker starting on the wing, after returning from injury. The ever reliable Yards front row of Rich Withey, Billy Bucknall and Peter Butler drove the Leek pack back on many occasions, taking two against the head during the game and containing their own ball. The first half kicked off with a bang, with Leek forwards taking Steve Grainger and Billy Bucknall out in the air, giving away early penalties, putting Leek onto the back foot. The first 10 minutes were dominated with efficient rucking from the forwards and great lines of running from Grainger, Langley, Painter and Captain Cunningham. Brennen supported the pack with some great ball turnover in the tight. The first score came from Jamie Walton converting two penalties, taking Yards to a 6-0 lead. Yards continued their lead in the 12th minute, when Seymour Seaton finished off an efficient backs move, driven from Lee Purdy to Walton, Walton to Rimmer then three quick passes from Brain, Walker and Hansen to Seymour who finished well under the posts. The kick was converted. Yards second try came from a wonderful box kick from Lee Purdy, for Adam Walker to finish in the corner, Purdy showed great skill and ability to kick the ball over the Leek defence and into the path of Walker. The try was converted. Leek were awarded a penalty try nearing the end of the first half through Adam Walker pushing the Leek winger away from the ball over the line. The try was converted. Yards bounced back with a wonderful solo run from the ever impressive Brain, who scored with ease. Yards finished the 1st half 25-13 in the lead.
The second half kicked off with the Yards backs, lead by the forever young Hansen, wanting to finish the game early, however, a few handling errors put Yards on the back foot, Leek's momentum changed and over a fifteen minute spell brought the game back to 25-22, from a try and a couple of penalties. Withey was replaced by Gary Robinson who took the game to Leek and Yards were again on the front foot. Then adding Jo Patrick to the side gave Yards some efficient running to the back play. With Yards needing a score, Langley drove forward, supported by Robinson, Cunningham and Bucknall. The ball was recycled, a quick pass from Purdy to Grainger, who saw a small gap on the Leek blindside and Grainger's brilliance resulted in two dummy passes and side step and an efficient finish under the posts, the try was converted. A quick penalty from Walton took Yards to 35-22 in the lead, But Purdy was not finished. Picking up the ball outside the Leek 22, he drove through two tackles with ease and finished under the posts, with Walton converting, taking the total points to 42. Yards finished the game strongly and the final whistle was met with a very pleased crowd celebrating a good display from Yards.