Sheffield Sabres 19 - 43 Leeds Gryphons (02/11/19)

The rain fell on West Park Rugby Club as the Leeds Gryphons and the Sheffield Sabres met to kick off the 2019/20 Uniball season. Playing on the Saturday instead of the usual Sunday, with division and cross-city rivals watching on, both teams will have been wanting the lay down a marker for the rest of the season.

It was the Gryphons who started the game in such a manner, forcing early pressure on rookie QB Ollie Martin. The pressure came to fruition when a hand off between Martin and WR Joe Batchelor was fumbled, and the Gryphons recovered in the endzone for the first score of the game. On the subsequent Sabres offensive drive, they were forced to punt on 4thdown, which was blocked by the Gryphons and again recovered in the end zone.

The Sabres D finally stepped onto the field with the score at 15-0, and Leeds’ first offensive drive carried the same momentum as their start on defence and special teams, with 5 big runs culminating in a 9-yard rushing TD.

The defence begun to get in their stride, with LB (and player of the game) Alex Garcia sacking the Gryphon’s QB for an 11-yard loss, forcing Leeds to punt for the first time during the game. Leeds forced another turnover on downs, before the Sabres D forced another turnover on Leeds’ first offensive play of the subsequent drive, with NT Mwasha Mutale forcing a fumble recovered by LB Charlie Jones.

The offence continued to struggle to get going towards the end of the first half, with QB Ollie Martin throwing an interception targeting fellow rookie WR Dom Meeks.

The teams went in to the half time break with the score at 21-0, with the Sabres looking to make some tweaks that would get them back into the game in the second half. Mark Price would step in at quarterback and the coaches would be looking to use his unrivalled athletic ability.

The D stepped on to the field first and forced the third of Leeds’ 5 fumbles. The D also added the Sabres’ first points of the game, with LB Alex Garcia recovering a fumble in the end zone.

The teams traded 3-and-outs throughout much of the third quarter, before two quick turnovers gave the Gryphons great field position, which they took advantage of by scoring from both.

Despite the turnovers, the Sabres offence showed vast improvements late in the third quarter and into the fourth quarter, putting together long drives, and finally putting some points on the board with TD passes from Mark Price to Joe Batchelor and rookie WR Tom Lovatt.

Despite the final score of 43-19, the Sabres showed flashes of their potential going forward. They now travel to Liverpool to face the LJMU Fury, looking to get back to 1-1. The Fury started off their season with a bye week, so they have had a week’s extra preparation for the Sabres, and will be looking to start their own season 1-0.