Yorkshire League

Division Three

Skipton 22

Leeds Corinthians 0

'Cometh the hour, Cometh the man' goes the saying but Skipton had 15 heroes in this table-topping clash writes Mel Mason.

Defeat would have definitely curtailed Skipton's chance of finishing as league champions but they rose to the challenge in style.

Despite there being inevitable international absentees, a large crowd gathered at Sandylands in anticipation of another thriller - and they were not disappointed.

Skipton lost the toss and kicked off with a gale blowing behind them. The first 20 minutes saw Skipton make uncharacteristic mistakes and concede too many penalties - although some infringements were borne out of frustration at the killing of quick ruck ball which the hungry home backs like to feed on.

Eventually the deadlock was broken when Howson converted a penalty, but with 12 minutes to half time the score remained at 3-0 and the visiting supporters were becoming more confident and vociferous by the minute. Unfortunately for them the remainder of the match saw Skipton dominate every phase of the game.

The ball started rolling when, from a well constructed maul, the fish and chip baron Mark Davison battered his way over the line and Howson slotted over the conversion.

Leading 10-0, the general feeling amongst the home crowd was that it may not be enough with the wind blowing into Skipton's faces in the second half. With the clock fast approaching half time, one final effort to secure that vital extra score was required and to the delight of the Skipton contingent it was forthcoming.

Smithson planted a perfectly flighted kick into the Corinthians 22, Wilson followed up and pressurised the full backs kick into touch. At the ensuing line out Antonio collected and eyed the try line 15 yards in front of him and, like a Kiwi ram-raider with bad eyesight, he demolished all in front of him and those vital points were on the scoreboard.

Howson, whose overall kicking was precise all afternoon, put the icing on the cake with the difficult conversion making the half time score 17-0, but nobody was under any illusion that it was still going to take a gargantuan effort to keep the league leaders at bay.

The home crowd could not have expected to witness the magnificent gradual strangulation of the visitors that was about to take place.

Marcroft marshalled, Porter probed, Beech blasted and the Reds started to roll. The King brothers tackled themselves to a standstill and the visitors dangerous plumber Matt Walesa was stopped and shunted backwards with interest every time he attempted to break through the home defence.

With the wind strengthening all the time, it was down to the old workhorses Phillip and Winthrop to punch into the visitors defence - gaining ground by the inch rather than the yard but all the time retaining possession and using up time.

This Scrooge-like obsession with ball retention started to frustrate Leeds who resorted to rather unfortunate ways but this Skipton team has a steely edge to it nowadays and the fouler the play by the visitors meant the next tackle was that bit harder.

Before the final whistle many visiting spectators started their journey back to Morley knowing that they had been beaten by a good, organised and aggressive Skipton team. The icing was put on the cake when the fish fryer, Davison, claimed his second try just before the finish.

This game saw Skipton score their 100th try of the season and they will be hoping to add to this tally next week when visitors to Sandylands are Moortown - the new league leaders.

If the red devils are victorious then, not only will it be their 13th successive league victory but it will put them top of the league on superior points difference.

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