Although there certainly were three matches to watch in a single afternoon at West Park Leeds yesterday, they overlapped rather than occurring consecutively so giving less time to photograph the later two. First was Leeds Tykes v Chinnor in Division One of the National League, kicking off at 12.30pm. The Tykes began well, scoring very quickly by charging down a box kick and then winning a race to the line. At this point in the afternoon the sun was shining with much blue sky appearing between the clouds.
It didn’t take Chinnor too long to equalise and then move ahead before half time. From then on it was an uphill task for the home side as chances were few and the visitors threatened throughout. Final score was 12-29 and you can read a more detailed match report here.
Meanwhile, West Park Leeds Ladies had begun their match against Novocastrians at 1pm. ickledot had only half an hour to gain a photographic impression of this game. By this time, mid-afternoon, the sun had disappeared, replaced by heavy clouds. However, the rugby was bright and lively. West Park scored several tries but so did the visitors. At one point ickledot was concerned that the home side, league leaders by the way, might be losing. However, this was not the case and they ended up winning by 50 points to 32. A convincing victory but also a marked improvement for Novocastrians who scored more points than in previous matches between the two sides.
Not quite sure when the afternoon’s third match kicked off but the first half was nearing its end by the time the women’s game was complete. This was an encounter between the men of West Park and Bramley Phoenix. The visitors were ahead and added to their tally shortly after ickledot joined the game. The clouds were really heavy at this point; it was dark enough for the floodlights to be switched on and the photos were becoming very grainy.
You’ll see from the match pics that tempers flared at one point, causing a player from each side to be shown the red card. However, things calmed down after, the second half being played in a good competitive spirit.
West Park managed to cross the line in the second half but so did Bramley - the final score being 12-20 in favour of the visitors.