Victory over city rivals for Leeds Met rugby

by Joe Cuthbert 

On a wet and foggy afternoon Leeds Met 1st XV made the short trip to Weetwood to play local rivals Leeds Uni.

With varsity still hurting Uni the game started in a very physical manner with neither side looking to give anything away. However it was Met who gained the upper hand and began to enjoy some early possession. This possession then paid off when fly half David Treglown kicked to the corner and a brilliantly worked line out from the Met forwards resulted in flanker James Briscoe crossing for the opening score.

With conditions being difficult for free flowing rugby the game was always going to be tight up front. However a good move by the Uni backs enabled them to hit back straight away with a seven pointer under the posts. As the game began to move closer to half time Met found a spark and once again good work at the lineout by skipper Barnie Maddison enabled the Met backs to exploit their opposition's midfield and allow wing Dan Ulliot to run in under the posts. With Dave Treglown converting that along with a further penalty, Met opened up a 15-7 lead.

Met were now beginning to take command of the game and further opportunities started to open up. This dominance paid off on the stroke of half time when good work by hooker Charlie Maddison at the breakdown enabled number eight Alex Campbell to exploit the blindside and cross over in the corner for Mets third try of the afternoon. A further conversion from Treglown left the score at 22-10 to Met at half time.

The second half told a different story to the first. As conditions deteriorated the game became slower and a real up front battle. Uni started the brighter and if not for a last ditch tackle by full back Alex Fieldhouse would have seen them back in the game.

Uni began to really stretch Met though superb defence in the midfield by Joe Donkin and Jack Moon meant Uni were kept at bay. However with Donkin leading the line so well, the continual pressure finally told with Uni fighting back with a try from 5 metres out. The score really bought Uni back into the contest. Though as Met looked to fight their way back, poor executional skills hampered the away sides progress.

However on a scarce visit to Unis half, Mets pack led well at the lineout by Rob Gregg forced a penalty and Treglown knocked over the three. This looked to have settled the game but Uni came back and pushed again for another score. Great defence continually kept Uni at bay, however late indiscipline resulted in a quick tap penalty and the hosts going over in the corner. The conversion was made and this left the final score at Met 25 Uni 22.

A superb win in very difficult conditions and Met will now look to build ahead of next weeks rematch at home.