Following on from their demolition of Northallerton, the medics were forced to have unusually short team showers (much to the dismay of Phil Gardiner) as they had a coach to catch. This coach was heading to Sale FC which would be hosting the biennial “Manchester Invasion”. A strong turnout from the club filled the 53 man seater and a good journey was had by all. The freshers were presented with their club ties and everyone enjoyed Harry Rudman and Christian Widdowson’s rendition of “L.I.O.N.E.L.” in tribute to Josh Wanaz. For many of the players though, it was a choice between sleep and red bull. Many favoured the latter option however club wetters Matt Forest, Phil Gardiner and Alex Smith all fancied a snooze. In contrast, club veteran Sam McMeekin set a new club record by consuming 4 cans of red bull in a dangerously short space of time.

LMD entered the stadium and quickly made their way to the changing rooms where club DJ Josh Janvier was blasting out some beats. This chap is single-handedly taking all the club titles from his fellow sparrows each week: “Biggest man in the club” “Strongest lid in the club” “Best tekkers in the gym” “Best makeshift DJ”. The list could go on… What an achiever! A short, sharp and of course, intense warm up followed led by captain Wanaz. Cheered on by the crowd, the boys seemed switched on for the game and were feeling confident they could get revenge for the results of the previous two years.

Both teams ran onto the pitch accompanied by the noise of air horns and chants from their respective supporters. It was clear the Leeds crowd was winning the chant off, as the Manchester crowd seemed remarkably subdued and were unable to retaliate with any decent chat. However, this small victory would mean nothing if the boys did not back it up on the pitch. The whistle went and both teams were eager to assert themselves on the game. The Leeds forwards worked hard and won a penalty which Toby Williams sent spiralling down onto the halfway line. A slick lineout followed and the backs were given clean ball. Greg Neal-Smith received a pop off Toby Williams and broke through the Manchester line and was eventually brought down on the Manchester 22. After some good pick and goes from the forwards, a scrum was called in the middle of the Manchester 22. Again, a similar move for the backs meant GNS broke through the Manchester defence before being brought down just short of the line.

Manchester managed to clear their lines and then started putting pressure on the backs by utilising their big runners off 10 to try and gain some yards. Some fantastic hits were put in by Toby Williams and George Lane to halt their opposite men, with George taking on the responsibility of marking “Big Francis” for the rest of the game. This worked well and the sweeping back row of Adam McCarter and Christian Widdowson won valuable turnover ball for Leeds. This was used well in the lineouts, with Josh Wanaz plucking out many a high ball, and then setting a powerful LMD drive which gained valuable yards. Later on in the half, a few LMD mistakes led to quick turnover ball for the Manchester backline. They did not hesitate and flung it wide to their gas men, who exploited the overlaps and made breaks into the LMD 22. Leeds found themselves pinned down here for the next 10 minutes. The scrum was being marched back by the determined Manchester front row. Prop Will Rofe was seen limping off the pitch with what was assumed to be a flare up of his Tinder related groin strain. Bring on crowd favourite, Man Mountain, the one and only, Chrissy D. Whether the cheers were for him or his builders bum, we will never know, but he quickly halted the Manchester scrum in their tracks and allowed the ball to be cleared from the Leeds 22. But only shortly after this, a turnover from Manchester on the Leeds 10m line led to the ball being spread down their backline and eventually the full back slid over in the corner. Manchester 5- Leeds 3.

Half time went with the score being 5-3. The crowd were getting louder and more boistrous, and the adrenaline was kicking in for LMD. They needed this as some lads had already completed 120 minutes of rugby that day, so needed every bit of support they could get to work hard for the last 40. Some drastic physio was needed from Drew Harding who assisted the predictably crampy Matt Strang. Shortly after he was back on his feet, keen to continue after his strong performance at 9 in the first half.

The kick off resumed play and Manchester seemed to have the upper hand for the first 10 minutes. A very useful strategy of crashing up with big runners and quick recycling of ball was effective against the tiring LMD defensive line. Commendable efforts go to the Leeds back row, in particular Adam “Honey Badger” McCarter who was constantly tucking into the rucks to win turnovers. This behaviour continued later that night where he managed to tuck into some sweet treats of his own on the Walkabout dance floor. However, repeated infringements from Leeds meant a penalty for Manchester just behind the LMD 22. They did not hesitate to take the 3 points on offer and Leeds now found themselves 8-3 down. A short interlude was then provided by a Manchester streaker, who kindly offered the players a breather while he jogged his way around the pitch. Unfortunately for him, the bitterly cold night had taken its toll and the females in the crowd were left somewhat underwhelmed by what he had on display.

After that short break, both teams then decided to try and kick the other team into their own 22, so the ball was punted back and forth, till Leeds eventually found themselves under pressure in their own 22 following a great chasing tackle from Phil Gardiner. However, Ian Duffus spotted a loose ball from the side of the ruck and pounced before using his deceptive turn of pace to make a break out of the Leeds 22. Support was on hand from GNS who sprinted onto the Manchester 10m line before being hauled down. Leeds now started fighting back, with some strong running lines from crowd favourite, Alex Sharp, and newly recruited Gryphon, James Conville. Conville spotted an opportunity for a cross field, and nailed it with pinpoint accuracy for the chasing backline to take, however, the boys in black were not clinical enough to finish it off. The chances came again though, with the forwards battering down their opposite men to get within 5m of the line. Frantic defence from Manchester ensued, and it looked certain that Leeds would score here but it was not to be. There was a knock on metres in front of the tryline and it gifted Manchester the opportunity to finish the game off.

In the final couple minutes of the game, all credit to the Manchester team, as they closed the game out with some clinical pick and goes. Retaining possession till the timer had run down. The ball was kicked out and they celebrated a well-deserved win in what had been their closest encounter to date. Leeds could not help feeling that the result would have been different if they had not played earlier in the day, but the result was the result, and the formidable Manchester scrum had proved the deciding factor. It was not all over for the Leeds boys yet though, as they clinched victory in the “MOTM and DOTD” pint down off in the bar, and this set the tone for the night ahead. Manchester may have won the rugby, but Leeds won the afterparty.

MOTM- Greg Neal-Smith

DOTD- Josh Alexander

QOTD- “Where’s my kitbag?” – Alex Smith