Leeds and Newcastle fought out a hugely entertaining 30-30 draw at Headingley
with both sides having a chance to win it in the closing stages.
The crowd of 4,970 were treated to a thriller with the lead changing hands
several times.
Leeds lost wing Phil Christophers with a leg injury after four minutes and
brought on Gordon Ross to play at fly-half with Andre Snyman on the wing.
After nine minutes Joe Shaw spilled the ball on his own 22 and from the scrum
Snyman burst through down the wing to score in the corner and Ross converted.
Newcastle hit back with a driving run from Jamie Noon and Leeds came in from
the side at the ruck for Dave Walder to kick a 14th-minute penalty and he added
another three minutes later when Leeds pulled down the line-out maul.
Newcastle mounted an attack with Tom May, Mark Mayerhofler and Michael
Stephenson all nearly getting through and both John Dunbar and Andy Buist were
pulled down just short as Leeds conceded another penalty for not rolling away in
the tackle. Walder kicked his third penalty in seven minutes.
Newcastle were on fire and Hugh Vyvyan and Shaw broke down the right and a try
seemed certain but Dunbar could not hold the inside pass 30 metres out. Then
Stephenson and Noon had the Leeds defence back-pedalling and Walder slotted a
quick drop- goal.
Leeds came back with a pulsating rolling maul to extract a penalty and Ross
made it 10-12 on the half-hour before skipper Tom Palmer put his side back in
front when he stepped inside Walder to race in from 30metres and Ross
converted.
It was end-to-end stuff and when Dunbar broke clear he was caught just short
of the line. The ball was fired out to May but Leeds were offside and Walder
kicked his fourth penalty in first-half stoppage time.
The Falcons got off to a great start in the second half with heavy pressure of
the Leeds line and it paid off when Walder and Warren Britz put May in at the
corner for his 10th Premiership try of the season.
Back came Leeds with Tristan Davies racing through and Ross converted for the
lead to change hands again in the 53rd minute.
Incredibly, Newcastle went back in front when Walder's inside pass was taken
at pace by Stephenson and Walder then converted for the Falcons to lead 27-24.
Then with two minutes of normal time left, Ross levelled the scores with a
long-range penalty.
However referee David Rose penalised Newcastle at a line-out in the 82nd
minute for barging and Ross kicked the penalty for Leeds to lead 30-27.
Leeds were then penalised for hanging on and Walder kicked a 48-metre penalty
to level it at 30-30.
Even then the thrills were not over with Ross having a chance from halfway to
win it but his kick fell short.
Teams
Leeds: Cardey, Rees, Davies, Snyman, Christophers, Hodge,
Dickens, Cusack, Rawlinson, Powell, Murphy, Palmer, Salter,
Ponton, Rigney.
Replacements: Ross for Christophers (3), Kerr for Cusack (62),
Hooper for Murphy (78), Morgan for Ponton (78).
Not Used: Boden, Walker, Clayton.
Tries: Snyman, Palmer, Davies.
Cons: Ross 3.
Pens: Ross 3.
Newcastle: J. Shaw, May, Noon, Mayerhofler, Stephenson, Walder,
Grindal, Peel, Makin, Ward, Buist, Hamilton, Dunbar, Britz,
Vyvyan.
Replacements: Lilley for J. Shaw (66), Godman for Grindal (57),
Hurter for Peel (31), Thompson for Makin (51),
Parling for Buist (51), Woods for Britz (57).
Not Used: Charlton.
Tries: May, Stephenson.
Cons: Walder.
Pens: Walder 5.
Drop Goals: Walder.
Att: 4,907
Ref: David Rose (RFU).
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