Yorkshire Division Two: West Park Leeds 20 Old Grovians 41

OLD Grovians travelled with only 16 players for their first meeting with West Park Leeds, and gave a motivated performance in making it two wins ut of two for the season

Conditions were a complete contrast from the previous week, with warm sunshine helping the backs in their running game on a very wide pitch.

Both teams started well, with the forwards not giving much away, and Old Grovians hooker Matthew Worrall was the first to make an indent, carrying the ball well as the hosts missed tackles but not quite being able to break through.

West Park Leeds elected to kick an early penalty from halfway but it went wide, and immediately visiting No 10 Ben Brown opened the scoring with a penalty of his own as the home side were penalised for holding on.

Under pressure from Old Grovians, West Park Leeds cleared the ball upfield, only for visiting full back Anthony Griffin to gather the ball, pick up pace and shrug off the tackles on the way to the line in the tenth minute, Brown's conversion making the score 10-0.

Old Grovians' defence then stayed solid, with forwards Lewis Brook, Joe Sowden and Jaskaran Deu being solid and relentless in their cover, and eventually they turned the ball over, Griffin running the length of the field to go underneath the posts, Brown converting for 17-0 after only 25 minutes.

However, the visitors still gave away some needless penalties, allowing West Park Leeds to score a close-in penalty.

The hosts went close again, only for Worrall to steal the ball for Brown to clear, and the visitors looked comfortable at half-time with a 14-point lead.

Old Grovians distributed the ball better and used the width of the pitch more in the second half, and got their third try four minutes after the interval, good hands in the backs giving Griffin the chance to feed winger Jonathan Gilbert, who scored from 20 yards out, Brown's conversion taking the lead to 24-3.

West Park Leeds weren't giving up, however, and they again cashed in on Old Grovians penalties to eventually score a pushover try, despite some excellent defending by Harry Garforth and some big hits by his brother Joe.

There was then a yellow card for each side, West Park Leeds for a late tackle on man of the match Griffin, and Worrall for going in at the side, the hosts then repeating their rolling maul for a converted try to make it 24-15.

However, any nerves were eased by a second Gilbert try, Brown converting, and a try for the side-stepping Toby Harris after a good 20-metre run by Sowden.

Pad Burns then blew a certain try for Old Grovians by dropping Brown's well-weighted kick, and it was left to West Park Leeds to get the final score with a try in the corner.