Round 16 match report- Leeds Rhinos (17) vs London Broncos (16)

London’s best performance of the Super League season so far, the Broncos lose out in Gold Point extra time due to a Brodie Croft drop kick. However, don’t take anything away from London, what a fight that they brought to AMT Headingly Stadium. The boys gave absolutely everything to the game, left it all out on the field and have every reason to leave Leeds with their heads held high, ready for next Friday’s game against Castleford.

0’- Leeds kick to London from right to left.

3’- Good start by London. Some good meters made on their opening runs and some good defensive field position held from Leyland’s kicks on the fifth.

5’- Try scored for London by Josh Rourke. An excellent break by Rourke who offloads to Jacob Jones and Rourke finishes the move himself on the next phase. Kick converted by Leyland- Leeds 0- London 6.

7’- Bienek loses control of the ball and Leeds get the ball in the Broncos half.

8’- Try for Leeds, scored by Ash Handley. Martin misses the kick- Leeds 4- London 6.

11’- Rourke catches the high kick but produces an incorrect play of the ball- turnover for Leeds in the Broncos half.

13’- Penalty for London due to an obstruction by Leeds.

16’- Good chase by the Broncos off Leyland’s high kick but London gives away a penalty in the tackle.

17’- Scrum for London as Leeds knock the ball on in the tackle.

18’- Kennedy knocks the ball on trying to offload in the tackle. Scrum for Leeds on the edge of their half.

19’- Try for Leeds scored by Momirovski. There are shouts by the Broncos for a forward pass in the build-up, but the referee is confident that the pass was flat and despite Leyland’s last-ditch ankle tap tackle, the Rhinos are able to get the ball over the line. Martin converts- Leeds 10- London 6.

21’- A drop by Goudemand gives London a scrum in the Leeds half. A great opportunity to respond to the try that Leeds have just scored.

23’- London use up their six but Leeds gets the ball back practically on their try line.

24’- Penalty for London.

25’- Bienek’s pass gets intercepted, and Leeds get the ball back- a wasted opportunity for London.

26’- The ball is spilt by Leeds in the tackle and Jacob Jones can simply pick the ball out of the hands of the Leeds player.

27’- Some good ball by London, and Leyland’s high kick is contested by Macani and the ball goes dead off a Leeds hand. Goal line drop out for the Rhinos.

27’- Interchange for Leeds- Eseh comes on for Goudemand.

27’- Two interchanges for London- Tison comes on for Davis & Stock comes on for Bienek.

29’- Try scored for London by Rhys Kennedy. An excellent drilled move by London from the goal line drop out and Kennedy fights well to ground the ball. Leyland converts. Leeds 10- London 12.

31’- Penalty for London for a high tackle on Rourke.

32’- Try scored for London by Macani. An excellent run by Leyland who produces an excellent offload for Macani to finish off. Leyland narrowly misses the conversion. Leeds 10- London 16.

35’- Interchange for London- Williams comes on for Kennedy.

35’- Another excellent chase by Meadows off Tison’s kick and Leeds begin their set deep in their own half.

36’- Interchange for Leeds- Sangare comes on for Oledzki

38’- Some good meters made by the Broncos and Oli’s chip kick goes out of bounds, Leeds get the ball back deep in their half.

39’- Penalty for Leeds.

HALF TIME- LEEDS RHINOS 10- 16 LONDON BRONCOS

Half time thoughts: An excellent first half by London, who look very sharp and hungry to get their second win of the season. Rourke has looked fantastic so far, making some good runs and scoring the first try of the afternoon. Leyland also has particularly stood out so far with his excellent high kicks, conversions and passing. However, it is imperative that we keep this momentum up for the next 40- we cannot afford to switch off as Leeds have the X factor ability to take advantage of any space which is given to them.

40’- Leyland kicks to Leeds to start the second half.

43’- Leyland makes a mistake on the kick, the kick goes out on the full and Leeds get the ball back in dangerous territory.

44’- Six again for Leeds.

45’- A mistake by Leeds. A knock on by Eseh gives London a defensive break and a scrum about 10m outside of their try line.

47’- A spiral bomb by Meadows takes a couple of bounces before going out of bounds. Leeds gets the ball back in their half.

48’- An awful pass by Miller off a break is caught by Meadows. London let off after a line break by the Rhinos.

49’- Leyland’s kick goes dead for a 20m restart for Leeds.

50’- A knock on by Leeds from the Bienek tackle gives London a scrum on 5m away from the halfway line.

50’- Penalty for London as Leeds are offside from the scrum. Frawley was offside for Leeds.

51’- Double interchange for London- Kennedy & Bienek come on for Williams & Stock.

51’- Some handbags going on here. Kennedy is pushed by Martin and the two sides have a coming together.

52’- Mistake by Rourke with his pass and Leeds get the ball back. The handbags between the two sides seem to have woken the crowd up.

53’- A scrum for Leeds as Kershaw drops his attempted interception. Leeds have had an excellent run of play here and have a great opportunity.

54’- An excellent interception by Tison about 5m outside of the Broncos try line gives London the ball back. On the other side of the pitch, Handley and Meadows are nose to nose.

55’- Leyland’s kick goes out on the full for the second time of the match and gives Leeds another excellent opportunity in the Broncos half.

56’- A new set of six for Leeds who are pushing for a try.

56’- Leeds spill the opportunity as Handley passes the ball out of bounds and the ball is back in Broncos hands.

58’- Tison makes a great break and Bienek is over the line, but the referee is having a look as he believes the ball is held up in the grounding. It is a no try call on the field. The call is no try as the ball is short. It is a hand over for Leeds on their try line.

58’- Leeds make a mistake and then Macani knocks on as London get the ball back but there is no advantage, London have the scrum from the original Leeds knock on.

60’- Leeds get the ball back after some great defence. London have been really pressing for their fourth try of the afternoon, but Bienek drops the pass on the fifth chance.

61’- Another set of six for Leeds.

61’- Another set of six for Leeds- two within one minute.

62’- Leeds knock the ball on and London get the scrum and the ball back.

64’- Penalty for London for a high tackle on Josh Rourke as he collects the Leeds chip on their fifth attempt.

67’- The Leeds ball was bouncing and appeared to be going dead, but Macani decides to collect, and the video referee is looking to see if his foot touched the dead ball line, but his boot is about a millimetre off and London continue with their set.

68’- Try for Leeds, scored by Rhyse Martin. Martin converts his own try.

71’- Time off here as Adebiyi is down, it is looking like a leg injury. He is okay to carry on so play continues.

72’- Kershaw rips the ball from Miller and runs the ball about 30m before passing to Rourke who is grounded about 5m out. Play is stopped as Newman comes off the field due to an injury, who is green carded.

75’- This is some incredible back and forth action here. End to end stuff.

77’- Leeds have dropped the ball and given the Broncos a scrum in the Leeds half! A massive opportunity to get the winner here.

79’- James Meadows attempted drop goal hits Natoli straight in the head and nearly knocks him out. Leeds gets the ball back.

FULL TIME- LEEDS RHINOS 16- LONDON BRONCOS 16!! Extra time!

GP0’- Gold point extra time starts with Leyland kicking to Leeds.

GP0’- Natoli gives away a penalty for a high tackle.

GP1’- Leeds drop the offload and Rourke collects!! This is some game!

GP2’- Jones drops the ball on the fifth and Leeds get a scrum on the halfway line.

FULL TIME- LEEDS RHINOS 17- 16 LONDON BRONCOS. Brodie Croft nails the drop goal.

Penalty’s conceded: 5-3

Half time: LEEDS RHINOS 10- London Broncos 16

Full time: Leeds Rhinos 17- London Broncos 16

Leeds Rhinos

Team:

1)    Lachlan Miller, 2) David Fusitu’a, 4) Paul Momirovski, 3) Harry Newman, 5) Ash Handley, 6) Brodie Croft, 7) Matt Frawley, 8) Mikolaj Oledzki, 14) Jarrod O’Connor, 18) Mikael Goudemand, 16) James McDonnell, 12) Rhyse Martin, 13) Cameron Smith

Interchanges: 9) Andy Ackers, 15) Sam Lisone, 36) Sam Eseh, 17) Justin Sangare.

Try: Handley (8), Momirovski (20), Martin (68).

Conversion: Martin 2/3

Drop-goal: Croft.

Sin-bin: N/A

London Broncos

Team:

23) Josh Rourke, 2) Lee Kershaw, 3) Jarred Bassett, 21) Robbie Storey, 5) Iliess Macani, 20) Oli Leyland, 7) James Meadows, 19) Rhys Kennedy, 9) Sam Davis, 10) Lewis Bienek, 11) Will Lovell, 19) Sadiq Adebiyi, 29) Jacob Jones

Interchanges: 34) Ugo Tison, 16) Jordan Williams, 12) Ethan Natoli, 15) Marcus Stock

Try: Rourke (5), Kennedy (29), Macani (32).

Conversion: Leyland 2/3

Sin-bin: N/A