The strong wind was firmly behind the home side and was no doubt a factor when Barry Everitt missed a ninth-minute penalty. Conventional wisdom has sides keep the ball in hand when playing into a gale and the Wanderers maintained this to great effect.
Dave Ward made several line-breaks but the star of the first quarter was David Smith, who showed electric pace in scoring two tries. The build-up play was excellent too with Ben Lewitt having a hand in both scores. Having used the penalty as a range finder Everitt made no mistake with the conversions and the Wanderers had a 14-0 lead.
Leeds weren’t using the conditions to the same effect and kept the ball in hand as well when a booming clearance or two might have been more in order. They did score in the 21st minute when Danny Paul intercepted a loose pass and strolled between the posts for a try converted by Rich Vasey.
The visitors replied almost immediately, recovering the kick off and working phases towards the line. Browne crashed over in the 25th minute and five minutes later Harries took a rather more circuitous – but no less effective – route to the line. Everitt converted both for a 28-7 lead, and with James Parkes’ yellow card on the stroke of half-time things were looking good for the Wanderers.
Despite being down to 14 men Leeds were the stronger side in the third quarter, helped by a string of penalties that ultimately saw Harries sent to the sin bin. They found the Northampton defence resolute however and failed to capitalise on the amount of ball they had.
Indeed the Wanderers only had possession around half a dozen times before the hour mark, the most important of which was probably Simon Emms’s interception that allowed Ian Vass to kick clear. Even when they did have the chance to try and create a play the visitors weren’t finding the home defence as accommodating as they were in the first half and holes were few and far between.
The hammer blow was struck in the 61st minute when the Wanderers were awarded a penalty on their first possession on the Leeds 22. Everitt chipped over the three points and the 24-point deficit looked too much for the hosts.
The visitors also showed their adaptability in a string of replacements that saw the forwards rapidly changing positions.
The final gloss was put on by Smith, who made the most of a big blind side to round the defence and sprint over for his hat trick try that brought the final whistle.
Teams:
Leeds Carnegie - Goodridge; Rock, Vickerman, Burrell, Hughes; Vasey (Whittaker 61mins), Aspinall (White 61mins); Freer (Clarke 70mins), Parkes (Nilson 55mins), Hopcroft (Swainston 71mins), Denton, Bouza, Paul (Nilson 45-51mins; Boyde 55mins), Schusterman, Lock.
Wanderers - Diggin; Hoyles, Harries, Myler (Peck 67mins), Smith; Everitt, Vass; Tonga'uiha (Cannon 48mins), Shields (Emms 48mins), Budgen, Browne (Vickers 52mins), Hoy, Gray (Tonga’uiha 74mins), Lewitt, Ward.
Scorers:
Leeds Carnegie – Try: Paul; Con: Vasey.
Wanderers – Tries: Smith (3), Browne, Harries; Cons: Everitt (4); Pen: Everitt.
Yellow card:
Parkes (40+1mins)
Harries (52mins)
TIMELINE:
9mins WAND Miss pen Everitt
11mins WAND Try Smith Con Everitt 0-7
16mins WAND Try Smith Con Everitt 0-14
21mins LEEDS Try Paul Con Vasey 7-14
25mins WAND Try Browne Con Everitt 7-21
30mins WAND Try Harries Con Everitt 7-28
40+1mins LEEDS Yellow card Parkes
HALF-TIME LEEDS 7 WANDERERS 28
52mins WAND Yellow card Harries
61mins WAND Pen Everitt 7-31
78mins WAND Try Smith 7-36
FULL-TIME LEEDS 7 WANDERERS 36
