Yorkshire Division Two: Leodiensian 5 Old Grovians 26

RELEGATION-threatened Old Grovians' game-plan of playing into the gale-force wind and holding the hosts until half-time before capitalising in the second half worked a treat.

The visitors' forwards laid the foundation for a win that lifted the Apperley Bridge club up three places from the bottom, being potent in the first half and even better after the interval.

A strong start and a breakaway in the first 10 minutes by centre Anthony Griffin that didn't quite reach the line set the tone for the visitors, whose pack pushed forward clinically, keeping Leos pinned in their half.

The backs, while findling ball-handling difficult in the wind and rain on a heavy ground, also showed a high level of commitment.  

After 15 minutes, Griffin spotted a gap and charged through from halfway, going under the posts, to make Ben Brown's conversion into the wind as easy as possible.

The hosts were quick to respond and, with dogged determination, put together a number of phases that tested Grovians' defensive play, but they were equal to it, and managed to kick the ball clear.

However, a long clearance kick soon put the visitors back on the defensive, and the hosts were in charge for 15 minutes, twice being held up over the line.

The dam finally broke via a side-stepping try, however, leaving the half-time score at 7-5 to Old Grovians.

Maintaining their high work-rate, though, the visitors unsettled Leos in the second half, firstly via Henrik Ek and then James Trenholme before winger Dean Hogg off-loaded for Martin Mitchell to score.

Leading 12-5, the visitors had three good attacks, which were all thwarted by good tackling, but scrum half Tom Gough made the breakthrough, going blind side from the back of a scrum to put Joe Harrison, who went over for Brown to convert.

Leodiensian then had another decent 15 minutes, pressurising the visitors on their line, but they again foundered on Grovians' high work-rate, Jonathan Gilbert then pounced on a loose ball to score the bonus-point try and seal a hard-earned victory.