Gordon Ross kicked a dramatic, last-gasp retaken conversion as Leeds defeated
French giants Perpignan by the narrowest of margins to breathe new life into
their Heineken Cup Pool 2 campaign.
With the game deep into injury time, substitute Gordon Bulloch forced his way
over in the right corner, leaving the score at 20-19 to the visitors.
Ross, knowing it was the last action of the contest, had the unenviable task
of winning the game for his side and although he missed the first conversion
attempt, he was given another chance with referee Nigel Owens adjudging
Perpignan to have been encroaching on the kick and attempting to put off the
fly-half.
The Scot stepped up to land the conversion at the second attempt to give Leeds
new hope in what is turning out to be a tight group.
Earlier, Roland De Marigny had gone over for Leeds in the first half, but
Perpignan looked as though they had won thanks to tries by Nicolas Durand and
Jean-Philippe Grandclaude, and 10 points from the boot of Nicolas Laharrague.
That was until Ross' late and crucial intervention.
Leeds, no doubt buoyed by an upturn in fortunes domestically in recent weeks,
played some enterprising rugby in the opening stages and deservedly went ahead
through Ross' penalty in the ninth minute.
But they were behind two minutes later after a dashing piece of opportunism by
Durand.
The France scrum-half allowed his pack to roll a maul about 15 yards before he
snatched the ball from its base and sprinted down the blind side for a try in
the right-hand corner. Laharrague converted.
The Tykes were displaying plenty of ambition and were happy to throw the ball
around in their own 22, even when under pressure.
But Perpignan managed to gain a foothold on proceedings, thanks to their
mobile and dynamic pack led superbly by captain Bernard Goutta.
And although they failed to build on their lead until Laharrague knocked over
a penalty in the 33rd minute to make it 10-3, they remained camped inside Leeds'
half.
Against the run of play, however, the hosts reduced the deficit in the 37th
minute through their first try of the game.
Their first decent spell inside Perpignan's half saw Justin Marshall and the
impressive Andre Snyman make inroads with some straight lines of running before
the ball was spun out wide and full-back De Marigny slalomed over in the left
corner.
Ross missed the conversion and an early second-half penalty but the Scot made
amends by booting over a drop goal in the 45th minute to put Leeds in front.
Shocked to find themselves behind, the French side upped the intensity but
were finding Leeds' defence hard to break down.
That was until Grandclaude produced a superb piece of handling to put them
back in the lead in the 53rd minute.
Winger Pascal Bomati's inside pass from the right flank looked as if it would
come up short but Grandclaude, a 22-year-old who made his debut for France
against England at Twickenham last season, picked it up from his boot-laces to
saunter over, with Laharrague adding the extras.
The fly-half then added a penalty from 30 yards, after Leeds winger David
Doherty held on to the ball after being tackled, to make it 20-11.
A Ross penalty in the 72nd minute narrowed the gap and Bulloch forced his way
over following a well-worked line-out in injury time before Ross kept his cool
to secure victory for the hosts.
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