March 26, 2022
Today’s visitors to Kingsey Road were Leeds Tykes, possessors of a proud history in English rugby, but who have been struggling in recent seasons. The club officially came into being in 1991 following the merger of Headingley RFC and Roundhay RFC, two of the top sides in the North of England during the amateur era, and who date back as far as 1877.
Due to changes of ownership the club has had several different names since, going from Leeds Tykes to Leeds Carnegie to Yorkshire Carnegie then back to Leeds Tykes in September 2020.
Leeds were promoted to the Premiership in 2001/02 but despite finishing bottom in their first season at the highest level, they were reprieved from relegation as Rotherham were denied promotion because their facilities were deemed to be unsuitable for the Premiership.
Leeds stayed in the top flight for 4 more years, with a best placed finish of 5th in 2002/03 earning qualification to the Heineken Cup, where they beat the Ospreys but lost the return, as well as home and away matches to Toulouse and Edinburgh.
Leeds became a yo-yo club following their relegation in 2005/06 which started a run of relegation, promotion, relegation, promotion, third from bottom, then relegation again to the Championship at the end of the 2010/11 season.
Leeds then spent 9 seasons in the Championship, concluding when financial problems forced them to revert to part-time status, and to lose of every single match before the early termination of the 2019/20 season due to Covid, and relegation to National League One.
With a mostly young, inexperienced squad, many observers expected another relegation to follow this season, but whilst they currently sat second bottom, they harboured realistic ambitions of avoiding the drop, having improved as the season progressed to be only 4 points behind Blackheath but with two games in hand. They have earned a reputation for trying to play an expansive game, utilising their talented young backs, with full back Andrew Lawson regularly mentioned in despatches.
6 wins have been recorded, include the double over Blackheath, an impressive 17-15 victory at Cambridge, as well as home wins over Bishop’s Stortford, Rams and back markers Tonbridge Juddians, whom they still have to visit. Last time out the went down 22-23 at home to Darlington Mowden Park, conceding a converted try with 3 minutes to go and then missing a penalty to win the game at the death.
When the two sides met back in November, Chinnor ran out comfortable 29-12 winners in the end, although it was only 15-12 at half-time.
Since these diaries covered Chinnor’s last home match, the 36-10 victory over Tonbridge Juddians, Chinnor won a bruising, low scoring encounter in the mud at Plymouth Albion, before losing 22-38 under the floodlights at Rams in a Friday night match streamed live on the internet and YouTube, which served as a great advert for National League One rugby and attended by a crowd of 1,021 . It was a typical match in so many ways for Chinnor this season, being beaten up in the scrum, conceding far too many penalties, but good defence and enterprising back play kept them in the game, until two late tries clinched it for Rams.
Even worse, it was announced during this week that Chinnor had been docked 5 points for use of an unregistered agent, with a further 5 point penalty suspended for two years. Without going into the rights or wrongs of a club at this level paying agents to recruit players, neither of the two players named in the inquest ( Ryan Lomas and Max Heathman ) had started a match for Chinnor this season, and had a total of 8 substitute appearances between them.
The weather at kick-off was sunny, 16 degrees and there was barely a cloud in the sky, but the traditional Chinnor breeze was still present. The Red Kites appeared to have taken the day off as Chinnor kicked off with the breeze towards the ring road end. Leeds wore yellow shirts with the numbers on their backs in yellow in a green box, apart from numbers 2 and 12, which where in red on the back of their shirts.
Leeds suffered a set-back in the first minute when faced with an overlap, winger Jerry Bai attempted to make an interception but only succeeded in knocking on, and was shown the yellow card. From the resulting penalty, the Leeds defence stood firm and Tuilagi was bundled into touch. Play remained in the Leeds 22 though and the first score occurred in the 5th minute. From a Chinnor maul, scrum-half Carter broke, made the inside pass for wing Dean Hammond to come off his wing and scoot under the posts. Bourton added the easy conversion to make it 7-0 as a solitary Kite appeared to inspect the scene, before quickly departing again.
Chinnor continued to press and quickly took advantage of the space available from Leeds being a man down. Fly-half Walsh delivered a long pass to wing Hammond, who drew the covering defender to give a pass for full back Nick Smith to run down the touch line to cross and then make ground towards the posts. Bourton again added the extras to make it 14-0 after 7 minutes.
The action continued as Leeds then pressed in the Chinnor 22. Chinnor flanker Ben Manning made an important steal at the ruck but Chinnor were penalised at the subsequent breakdown, and with straight forward penalty in front of the posts just outside the 22, Leeds opted for the points. Tighe Maxwell-Whiteley’s kick was successful to bring the score to 14-3 after just 10 minutes.
The scoreboard continued to tick-over as two minutes later Leeds took the ball back into their 22 and then kicked straight out into touch. From the line-out inside the Leeds 22, Chinnor hooker Darlington made a break close to the try line but was stopped short. With possession reworked, a long pass enabled wing Goss to step inside his marker and score out wide. Bourton’s impressive conversion from close to the touch-line made it 21-3 with barely 15 minutes on the clock and Leeds proverbially still on the bus.
The first scrum of the match was awarded in the 17th minute, and although under pressure, Leeds managed to play the ball, but Chinnor quickly turned over possession, and with a penalty advantage a cross-kick was sent in the direction of the left wing, but a favourable bounce enabled Leeds full-back Lawson to touch down ahead of Hammond.
Leeds successfully defended the line-out penalty and managed to steal the ball, but the clearing kick to half-way was returned by Smith, bouncing into touch for a Chinnor line-out under the 50:20 rule. Leeds again defended well, with Tuilagi held up short, and after another steal they won a penalty close to half-way. It was their turn to kick for a line-out in the opposition 22, and after several phases close to the Chinnor line, prop Ademakin burrowed over. The conversion was missed so the score was 21-8 after 25 minutes.
Chinnor were soon back in the Leeds 22, but after Leeds won their line-out, the clearing kick to half-way went straight to full-back Smith, who scythed through the Leeds defence, drew the last covering defender to give Hammond a run to the corner for the try bonus point. Bourton again converted excellently from close to the touch-line to give Chinnor a 28-8 lead after half an hour.
Leeds responded with a spell of their own pressure. A decent moved ended with Bai knocking on close to the touch-line just outside the Chinnor 22, but they had been playing a penalty advantage. After kicking to the corner, Chinnor defended a series of drives but at the expense of another penalty. Centre Tom Williams took a quick tap and was able to barge over as a couple of Chinnor defenders collided with a goal post. Maxwell-Whiteley’s conversion made is 28-15 after 35 minutes.
Chinnor immediately hit back and after Leeds infringed at the breakdown in their own 22, the Chinnor pack rumbled over from the 5 metre line-out. Whilst it could have been anyone who had touched down, the tannoy announcer gave the credit to hooker Darlington. Bourton’s conversion from out wide, struck the upright, leaving the score 33-15 after 39 minutes.
The breathless action continued as Leeds attacked again in Chinnor’s 22, winning another penalty. After the line-out drive was blocked, Potts made a dart for the try-line but was unable to ground the ball,with the referee ruling he had been held-up, and the blew for half-time.
Leeds started the second half brightly and camped in the Chinnor half. After just one scrum in the entire first half, like London buses, three quickly arrived. Leeds were working the ball through the middle of the field, but when Lawson was released his dangerous break ended when his pass failed to go to hand. Another good move failed with a fumble close to the try line.
The pressure eventually told though as after another series of drives close to the try-line, a try was awarded with flanker Trystan Lloyd being the scorer and the conversion was successful to make it 33-22 after 54 minutes.
Leeds continued to show good fighting spirit and another penalty sent them deep into Chinnor’s 22. However, they were penalised at the line-out, and a great break by Goss took Chinnor into the Leeds 22 for the first time in the half. Leeds transgressed again shortly after, and Chinnor opted to take the points, and Bourton’s penalty gave them some breathing space at 36-22 with just under 20 minutes still to play.
Play went back into Chinnor territory, and Leeds deserved earned their 4 try bonus point with 8 minutes remaining when wing Harry Jukes burst through a couple of tackles to athletically touchdown in the corner. With the difficult conversion going wide, Chinnor led 36-27.
The final minutes saw Leeds desperate to score again to claim a losing bonus point. However, they conceded a penalty in the Chinnor 22 when over-enthusiastically trying to recover the ball, and from the subsequent move from the line-out, Chinnor’s Hammond made a great break only to run into the referee for perhaps the best tackle of the match ! After play continued, Worrall broke down the wing but was unable to find a team-mate with his inside pass.
With a minute remaining, Leeds were back on the attack as Lawson jinked past a couple of defenders only to be stopped by a tackle that looked a little high, and as played continued Carter made a vital interception which led to some flared tempers. For something I didn't see, Chinnor's Nick Smith was shown the yellow card and Leeds had a line-out in a dangerous position. Although the line-out was gathered, Chinnor flanker Willie Ryan snaffled the ball, and Chinnor were able to move the ball to half-way. Leeds wheeled the resulting scrum only for the referee to award a penalty to Chinnor, and blow the final whistle to end an enthralling game.
Leeds took one point to help their fight against relegation but would have been disappointed to have learnt about Blackheath’s unexpected 31-24 victory over second placed Rosslyn Park. However, with Plymouth losing 24-48 at Cambridge, they are now four points adrift of Plymouth but with a game in hand.
Highlights : https://www.chinnor-rfc.com/videos/trylights--chinnor-36-leeds-tykes-27-177804.html
Table ( prior to the 5pt deduction for Chinnor )
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