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Plymouth Albion v Leeds Carnegie: Edwards left to rue costly errors
SHUT OUT: Leeds Carnegies Scott Freer, with ball, crossed the whitewash but that failed to prevent defeat at Plymouth.
Leeds Carnegie head coach Diccon Edwards admitted his side paid the price for their mistakes in a 25-20 defeat at Plymouth Albion on Saturday.
Leeds started the game in fine form with an early try for Iain Thornley but crucially Carnegie bombed two clear try scoring chances and were left to rue not putting the game to bed early on.
Edwards said: “It was a frustrating game for us. We made too many errors and paid the price in the end.
“We had the chance to lead 21-0 inside the first quarter but did not take our chances and the game was left at 7-7. Plymouth grew in confidence and in the end we did not deserve to win the match.”
Popped
Joe Ford’s direct running created the first score for Leeds as he passed to Michael Stephenson who popped a short pass to Pete Lucock, who broke through the defence and headed to the corner.
He was pulled down five metres short but found Scott Freer who scored out wide. Bell added the conversion to make it 7-0.
Leeds could have had two more tries after that. The first should have been scored when Thornley broke down field and with two men outside him, he opted to go for the line himself and was tackled short of the line.
Bell then broke down the right hand side, did well to draw the last man and passed to Stephenson to score in the corner, only to be pulled back for a forward pass.
Shortly after when Leeds committed men to a ruck it left a gap out wide and Plymouth broke clear through Paul Rowley. He was tackled but offloaded to Wayne Sprangle who touched down for Albion. James Love added the simple conversion.
Leeds managed to re-take the lead midway through the first half when Thornley burst through to score in the corner. Bell missed the conversion but Leeds led 12-5.
But Carnegie were then reduced to 14 men when Ryan Burrows was sin-binned.
Plymouth sensed their chance to hit back and crossed for a second try following a long spell of pressure when they had an extra man out wide for Paul Roberts to score. Love missed the conversion to leave the scores tied at half-time.
Plymouth seized the initiative at the start of the second half as Love nudged his side in front with a penalty.
And the hosts then gave themselves a crucial eight-point lead with a try from hooker Gareth Evans which Love failed to convert.
Leeds then scored the try of the game as Barrow released Thornley to break clear. He fed Lucock and the winger returned the compliment and Thornley burst clear to score his second try. Bell missed the conversion to leave his side three points adrift.
The game then turned on a crucial decision from the referee.
Leeds were awarded a penalty 25 metres from their line for offside.
However, instead of Leeds being able to clear down field and mount an attack, Craig Hampson was sent to the sin-bin for dipping his knees into Rowley. Love missed the subsequent penalty but Plymouth were once again in the ascendency.
Plymouth eventually crossed for a second try from Evans though Love was off target with the conversion.
As the game drew to a close, Bell pulled a penalty chance wide and Leeds were left to rely on a last-minute long-range penalty from Joe Ford to rescue a losing bonus point.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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