YMCA’s presence in the Yorkshire Shield was short-lived as they crashed 16-12 at home to West Leeds.
The visitors may have been a division below YM but they were determined not to be overshadowed and got to grips with the game fairly quickly, opening up an early lead when left winger Kieron Breakwell chipped over the head of Adam Ryder, collected and raced over the line on four minutes.
Stand-off Monk was unable to convert, and YM quickly responded with a series of probing runs from Chris Beever, Gavin Stead and Stuart Morton, and when the forwards took up the challenge and drove on, hooker Alex Whittaker was on hand to pick up the ball from the back of the ruck and power over the line.
Neither side were able to gain the upperhand, although two penalties from Monk gave West Leeds an 11-5 half-time lead, YM being penalised for handling in the scrum and standing offside.
The second half picked up in the same vein with most of the play being concentrated in the middle of the field. YM looking dangerous going forward, while West Leeds were solid in defence.
With six minutes remaining Beever brought the ball in-field beating a number of defenders as he did so before linking up with Ryder who in turn gave a neat final pass to Morton to go over the line unopposed, touching down near the posts. Stead converted and at 12-11 it seemed YM had snatch a close-fought victory.
However, with time running out, a mix-up in defence allowed Breakwell to put up an up and under, which three YM players all left to each other, resulting in the Leeds winger snatching possession and sprinting clear for the match-winning try.
Monk missed the conversion, but there was no time for a second comeback and YM’s return to some sort of form was nipped in the bud.
YMCA:@ Stead (Taylor), Ryder, Morton, Marsden, Beever, Wilson, Swift; Dyke (Stu) (Haggarty), Whittaker, Dyke (Ste), Whitehead, Wood (Sharp), Walker, Leonne-Mazza (Nyahoda), Torrance.
