Bowden stars as Leake win first league game

Leake stumbled to victory in their first league appearance of the season in a game in which they should have won easily....

East Leake 28 East Retford 26 
Leake stumbled to victory in their first league appearance of the season in a game in which they should have won easily.  After a fine first half they went to sleep and were willing the final whistle to go.  Retford kicked off down the slope but it was Leake who started better with a fine early break from Ward which took play into Retford’s half.  A good break by Bowden continued to move play up the field and as Retford tried to kick the ball clear Ward charged the kick down and Leake gathered the ball to set up a fine rolling maul which took the play up to the line for Mellits to score first try with Bowden adding the extra two points.  A silly penalty conceded by Leake allowed Retford to come back into the game but a break by Jackson relieved the pressure before Abubakar broke into Retford’s 22.  He managed to keep possession before feeding Bowden who sliced through to score under the posts and make it 14-3.  Again Leake conceded another penalty allowing Retford to pull back 3 points.  A moment of magic from Bowden caused another try as he collected the ball on his 10 metre line before setting off on a mazy run as he stepped through several tackle to score in the corner.  Weston was just wide with the conversion.  Taylor was adjudged to have played the ball on the floor which gave Retford another 3 points.  Leake attacked again and it was Bowden who gave Leake a half time lead of 22-9 with a drop goal.Leake kicked off but it was Retford who had the first chance of points as the referee awarded them a penalty but the ball hit the post.  Retford followed it up and looked certain to score but for some spectacular tackling by the Leake defence.  Leake managed to clear when Retford were penalised for not releasing the ball.  A fine break out of defence by Bowden took play into Retford’s half and as he kicked the ball through Jackson and Abubakar followed up and put Retford under the pressure as they forced the ball into touch.  Retford managed to clear and attacked again as they kicked back into Leake’s 22.  Weston called for a mark and took it quickly and advanced beyond the 22 before passing to Hogg who made ground up to the half way line.  Leake couldn’t get going in the second half and Retford were bringing themselves back into the game as they forced their way over for a try from a 5 metre scrum to make the score 25-14.  Leake extended their lead when Bowden kicked a penalty but they couldn’t gain enough ball to allow their talented backs to make any impression on the score line.  It was Retford who scored next as their big forwards making their presence felt as they scored under the post to make it 25 -21.  Bowden was on target to make it 28-21 before some poor tackling allowed Retford to score in the corner but the difficult conversion was well wide.  Leake managed to put pressure on Retford and kept the ball in their 22 as the time ran out.  A poor second half from Leake meant that they had to struggle throughout the second half but they came away with a win which was the most important thing.