Defeat for the Firsts

High flying Barnsley came a cropper at the hands of old rivals West Leeds, when a strong home team over powered the league leaders to win a match that will probably figure high in the reckoning at the end of the season. Barnsley were without Cheetham for whom Tyler Smith returned, and South came in at 8. For the fIrst time this season, the home supporters outnumbered Barnsley, and also outshouted them in support of their team!

West Leeds opened the scoring with a really good try wide out, and well converted. This came from a ball stolen by WL at the line out, passed out at speed, so that the cover failed to mark opposites, and the speedy home winger touched down. An immediate response saw the Barnsley pack driving forward and for 10 minutes or so they appeared to be gaining the upper hand. It turned out not to be the case as West Leeds attacked with pace and skill, helped by some unusually poor tackling by Barnsley. The referee, Mr Ashton, was clearly in command, and penalised both sides for offside and WL should have increased their lead when they pushed a penalty kick wide. Scores did come from 2 penalties and Leeds were 13 – 0 to the good until Barnsley showed what they can do with superb running and handling which ended when Salkeld scored.

By now, however, a number of unforced errors were creeping into the Barnsley game, with passes going astray and lines being lost. To make matters worse, both Appleyard and French needing to be replaced with leg injuries. The half ended with a further West Leeds score, converted to take them to a 20-5 score.

The second half began with Barnsley showing determination as they tried to get into the game. A good kick from Gaunt saw them move forward, but good defence from WL saw the ball cleared. South, Watt and Reed all drove forward but were well managed by the home defences, while Barnsley missed tackles, gave the ball away and were even pushed off at several scrums. A rampant home team were enjoying their superiority and added a penalty goal. A great catch and drive by Jack Iles put Barnsley into a scoring position and they narrowed the gap to 23-12 with a Josh Smith conversion. Nick Davies came on and made several forceful runs, but it was further pressure from West Leeds that produced the next score, with a fine try, increased soon after by another to make the score 33-12. Paddy Jensen initiated yet another Barnsley attack and a final try by Naisby brought the score to 33-17, leaving West Leeds players and supporters jubilant.

To be fair, the better side won and won well, Good points for Barnsley included a determination not to give up the struggle, but in truth some basic errors did not help the cause. It is not possible to give away set scrums and lineouts as often as today and expect to win. A further worry prior to next week’s game at Shaw Lane against league leaders West Park was he absence of effective game management at critical times. Defensively, backs need to mark their man and not get drawn in so easily, and the whole team needs a steadying hand so that everyone knows what their part is!