LEEDS HAVE EARNED a reputation for upsetting visitors to Headingley. Bath, Wasps and Leicester have each slipped up at times but on this occasion Gloucester came away with the spoils. Beaten by the Tykes on their last two visits, this time the Cherry and Whites made no mistake and earned a deserved welcome win away from the home comforts of Kingsholm for their first Premiership win of the season.
Although Gloucester were let down by their discipline, which reduced them to 14 men for two ten minute periods, they were more than equal to the task and Leeds were denied any score during those periods.
Sadly at times it was a typical early season encounter, riddled with simple elementary errors normally associated with schoolboys.
All in all Gloucester were just a bit too strong, better drilled and in better condition than their hosts and deserved to win a scrappy game which never reached the heights to match the mercury.
Gloucester made an inauspicious start, conceding five penalties in the first ten minutes and Leeds took an early lead through Duncan Hodge which was soon cancelled out by a similar effort from Henry Paul before Hodge kicked a second penalty.
Leeds lacked penetration but the class of Henry Paul (not booed this time by the sparse band of Leeds’ fans) got Gloucester on the front foot. A strong surge to the line by Alex Brown ended up with an easy score for Terry Fanolua and the vital first try which Paul converted to put the visitors in the lead at 10-6.
Ollie Azam was sin-binned after 25 minutes and although Leeds had the extra man they were unable to profit from the extra man at the subsequent scrum and they must have regretted their missed chance as any potential advantage slipped away.
Indeed it was Gloucester who were next to score as the visitors moved forward purposefully with some lively running but all too often were let down by the mistiming of the crucial final pass or the wrong options being taken, before Paul kicked another penalty but then saw an injury-time effort rebound off the upright as Gloucester were comfortably in front at the break 13-6.
The second half got underway to a disappointing start as the enigmatic Duncan MacRae blotted his copy-book with an act of stupidity which saw him sent to the bin for his ten minute spell.
However once again Leeds were unable to take any advantage from their numerical superiority. Gordon Ross replaced Hodge for Leeds as the home side came more into the game and closed the gap to 13-9 when he kicked a penalty.
Duncan MacRae redeemed himself with a sharp drop-goal that increased the visitor’s lead to 16-9. He then had the major hand in the Cherry and White’s second try, providing an excellent incisive break and a long pass to James Simpson-Daniel on the wing. Sinbad did the rest with a score on eighty minutes that will hopefully give his confidence a much needed boost
An inexplicable eight minutes of injury time from referee Steve Lander did provide a very late undeserved try for Leeds through prop Gavin Kerr but Gloucester deservedly took the win and four points.
An unspectacular start to the season but there were some plus points. The new look font row performed well enough without dominating, although new signing Terry Sigley unfortunately injured an ankle within ten minutes of the start and was replaced by Nick Wood but former Leeds’ prop Welshman, Gary Powell turned in a very solid performance on his debut.
Adam Balding provided extra line out options in the back row, whilst live-wire scrum half Simon Amor continually pressurised his opposite number to good effect.
The defence was well organised and few tackles were missed, with the whole lively Gloucester side looking better prepared than the opposition. The line out functioned well and it looks as if there could be increased competition for more positions than in previous seasons which must be a good thing for the future.
However too many penalties were conceded as Gloucester failed to play the referee, particularly in the early stages and potential tries missed by miss-timed passes, so there is plenty for the coaching staff and players to work on.
The five point margin was probably not a fair reflection of the play and flattered the home side but at least this time round Gloucester produced a better effort away from home for the first win of the new season.
Not a bad start after all.
Northampton at Franklin’s Gardens will be a much more robust and testing contest in the next trip!

Attendance 4,079

Referee: Steve Lander

LAST SEASON'S REPORT
Leeds 22 Gloucester 18 - Sunday December 21 2003

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