It was Leeds Beckett against Cardiff Met yesterday, played in breezy bright conditions on a reasonably warm Autumn afternoon. The home side began well, going against this season’s regular pattern of conceding first and then catching up. In fact, they scored two tries, both converted, to race into a 14-0 lead.
Then Cardiff awoke and began passing the ball a little too smoothly and rapidly along the line. It wasn’t long before they had five points on the board and shortly after they were within a couple of points of Beckett. At half-time we were reasonably optimistic though. Beckett play at their best in the second half don’t they?
It certainly seemed so as they mounted the first sustained attack of the second half. Cardiff were not done though. Further attacks took them two scores ahead of the home side. Despite a spirited final few minutes of frenzied Beckett offensive action, they were not able to draw level. The match ended with the final frustrating score of 26-31.
Many positives though, from my point of view at least. Beckett winger Joe Atkinson scored a try on the left which was amazing in that it began more dramatically, from a visual point of view, than it ended. He was on the left, there’d been a few mauls on the right and then suddenly a long looping pass to him. I only saw this back at home when going through the pictures - he leapt so high (see above) to evade a tackle after catching the ball. His run in to the try line from there was far from easy as more defenders attempted to pull him down. He kept on going though - his last few steps and touch down were relatively easy and straightforward, considering all he had struggled through.
Second highlight for me was a try from no. 2 Freddie Kenyon (I think). Mauls are always very hard to photograph. Often the all-important ball is buried in a crowd of bodies. Suddenly the attackers cheer, the ref gives the try and I’ve seen nothing. Freddie has been very obliging this season though. Once he has the ball, he makes sure he’s clearly visible on the camera side of the maul, often with the sunlight on him. Even though surrounded by feet and legs when he touches down, I can usually see him. And so it was yesterday.
Hope you enjoy the rest of the pictures. If you happen to be from Cardiff Met, there are quite a few pictures featuring your team too!