Leeds Met 56 - 6 Northumbria

5th November 2008
Headingley Stadium

Leeds met got off to a poor start by failing to complete their sets, which resulted in Northumbria coming out with the majority of the possession in the opening twenty minutes. With the frustration building amongst the Met side they defended well against several strong attacking sets from the visitors. The deadlock finally ended when powerful running from Jason Hart got him over the line for the opening try with McKinley converting

The next score came with Leeds Met gaining good field position through strong forward running and this allowed Kris Hodson to find winger Frank Mayfield out wide to score in the corner. Another Mayfield try followed shortly after down the same wing. McKinley missed both conversions The Met then started to pull away with Vinnie Finnighan scoring the first of a hat-trick of tries on the day down the right hand side. McKinley converted

Northumbria fought back when their hooker Will Bate scooted down the right hand side to capitalised on poor marker play and slow line speed. The combination of speed and good strength got him over the line for a fine try which John Lindley converted. Leeds Met had the final say of the half however after Finnighan and Wildridge crossed in quick succession. McKinley’s usual accuracy with the boot letting him down on both occasions. 
HT score 28 - 6

The second half saw both side coming out fighting yet it was Leeds Met who made the most of their chances with quick fire tries from Liam Wildridge through good support running, Jason Mossop hitting a good line down the right hand side and Vinny Finnighan completing his hat trick after spotting a weak link in the Northumbria line to scoot in for a fine try. McKinley added 1 conversion

Ill discipline then resulted in Leeds Met being reduced to twelve men with a large portion of the second half remaining. Ian Gordon and Nick Walker added further tries for Leeds Met.  A fine effort all round in defence prevented Northumbria scoring with this advantage and Leeds kept battling with Michael Sykes powering through the line to score under the posts. McKinley tagged on the extras to close the scoring

Jason Hart collected the man of the match with a dominating performance in both attack and defence.

Leeds Met

1 Yaad Johal
2 Vinny Finnighan
3 Nick Walker
4 Jason Mossop
5 Frank Mayfield
6 Ian Gordon
7 Jy Mal Coleman
8 Matt Carbutt
9 Scott Ellam
10 Michael Sykes
11 Lewis Wildridge
12 Jason Hart
13 Mark McKinley
14 Rhys Griffiths
15 Liam Duffy
16 Kris Hodson
17 Chris Clarke

Northumbria

1 Ross Wilkinson
2 Markus Broad
3 Bobby Gouldstone
4 Finlay Anderson
5 Henry Martin
6 Luke Higgins
7 John Lindley
8 Ian Sherwood
9 Will Bate
10 Gareth Schofield
11 David Cash
12 Matt Lumb
13 James Hall
14 Peter Taylor
15 Johnny Ellis
16 James Crossley
17 Andy Forbes

J Hart, F Mayfield 2, V Finnighan 3, L Wildridge 2, M Sykes, J Mossop, I Gordon, N Walker,  
McKinley 6/12

Try Bate (38)
Conversion Lindley 1/1