1972-1973

Yorkshire Cup Winners, John Player Trophy Winners, and Championship runners-up! The honours gained were considerable, the entertainment provided not quite as attractive as in previous seasons. At times, Leeds seemed all too prone to forsake that secret com?bination of flair, imagination and teamwork, which had previously flicked open the strong-door to success as if by sheer magic; now they tended to rely rather more frequently on blasting their way through by hard graft and persistence.

Apart from the transfers of David Hick and Ted Barnard at Hull K.R., the close season had been relatively quiet, but there was no lack of talking-points. In August: official time?-keepers; hooters; the new ?six-tackle rule?; the transfers of Peter Dunn to Bradford Northern, and John Burke to Keighley; the signing of full-back Geoff Nicholls from Barrow; and three fine wins in the League. But pride of place went to a splendid victory in the 1st Round of the Esso Yorkshire Cup at The Boulevard, where Leeds trailed by eight points after only as many minutes, yet quickly recovered through tries by Hynes and Batten, converted by Clawson and Holmes, to take a 10-8 half-time lead. The second half went to the brave, and none braver than Hepworth, as Leeds withstood a constant Hull barrage, and then sallied forth to silence ?Old Faithful? with nine more points in the closing stages.

September brought the signing of David Jeanes, the Wakefield Trinity prop; the transfer of Tony Wainwright to Oldham; and six further wins, to maintain our 100% record. Twice we topped the half-century mark, with Atkinson and Haigh claiming hat-tricks against Don?caster, as Eccles did at Blackpool in the 1st Round of the John Player Competition, but first priority was the Esso Yorkshire Cup. In the 2nd Round against Featherstone Rovers, we loitered, seemingly without intent, for twenty minutes, and then suddenly snatched 18 points in a ruthless twelve-minute smash and grab, master-minded by Haigh. Thereafter, crime paid, with Atkinson and Alan Smith ever ready to make a quick get-away with a 5-try share of the loot. As for Huddersfield, they offered much sterner resistance in the Semi-Final, yet had no answer to the jinking opportunism of Hardisty and the supercharged finish?ing bursts of Dyl, as Leeds ran in six sparkling tries.

September?s open rugby had yielded 45 tries from six games: an unaccountable switch to ?down the middle? tactics at Belle Vue in October, brought our first defeat of the season. Nor could lack of possession be pleaded in mitigation, as a week later, in the Esso York?shire Cup Final at Odsal, Leeds heeled from only four scrums in the entire match, yet scored eight tries, seven of them by backs, including three by Holmes, to crush Dewsbury by 36 points to 9. The Leeds team was: Holmes: A. Smith, Hynes, Dyl, Atkinson; Hardisty, Hepworth (Langley); Clawson (Fisher), D. Ward, Ramsey, Cookson, Eccles, Batten.

There was barely time to celebrate! Within four days, Hardisty was robbing Chisnall of possession in injury-time, and streaking away like a thief in the night to set the seal on a thrilling 1st Round Floodlit victory at St. Helens, but hopes of success in this Competition drifted out with the tide in a torrential 2nd Round downpour at Widnes. Even so, Leeds continued to make progress in the John Player Competition, giving Leigh short shrift in the 2nd Round, and establishing a 15-6 half-time lead at The Boulevard, only for Hull to earn a draw in a dramatic finish, with Leeds swarming on the Hull line and Sullivan seizing on a loose ball to sprint away for a sensational 100-yard try. There were no heroics in the replay, Hull going down 37-51.

Meanwhile, Leeds had triumphed over the New Zealand Tourists and won six consecu?tive league games, the utter rout of a scratch Wigan side, by 58 points to 3, precipitating the transfer of Alan Bence to Central Park. Marching through December with confident tread, and introducing full-back John Hay, formerly of Clayton Amateurs, we reached the turn of the year in 2nd place, just three points behind Warrington, with two matches in hand. Thus, with the recruitment of Geoff Clarkson, the Warrington prop, and Derek Edwards, Castleford?s utility back, the Headingley barometer was set fair, with no hint of the deep depression to come.

So much for barometers! Apart from a tremendous 19-0 victory over St. Helens in the Semi-Final of the John Player Competition, 1973 opened disastrously, persistent injuries and a taxing sequence of fixtures, taking heavy toll with four consecutive defeats in the League. Worst of all, however, dreams of Wembley turned into an agonising 1st Round nightmare of defeat at Headingley, Ashurst dropping four goals with fiendish ease and then fluffing a fifth, only for the ball to cannon off a Leeds player to present Nulty with a 5-point try, as Wigan took what the gods offered them to win by 25 points to 11.

With other peaks of glory yet to climb, there was no time for despair, and Leeds were soon heading towards new horizons with gathering momentum, seven successive league victories taking us back into 2nd place in the table, prior to tackling Salford at Fartown in the John Player Final. Billed as a spectacular, the match was a disappointment, yet no less rewarding for Leeds, who survived the shock of an early Dixon try and gradually took complete control with clinical efficiency. For all that, there was one unforgettable flash of Wizardry as Alan Smith doubled back after a brave thrust on the right … a pass to Dyl another to Holmes … a lightning sidestep and an incredibly long one-handed pass …. and Atkinson was racing away for his second try, to put Leeds 10-5 ahead at the interval. It was stalemate in the second half, Holmes and Watkins each kicking a penalty goal. Some stalemate, with a handsome trophy and ?5,000 for the winners! The Leeds team was: Holmes; A. Smith, Hynes, Dyl, Atkinson; Hardisty, Hepworth; Clawson (D. Ward), Fisher (Pickup), Jeanes, Haigh, Cookson, Eccles.

The Championship Cup was there for the taking, after settling for 3rd place in the table, after defeats at St. Helens and Featherstone, Leeds trounced a weak Bramley side in the 1st Round of the play-off; ran Castleford dizzy in the 2nd; and then survived a tense Semi-Final against St. Helens, only to slump to a shock defeat against Dewsbury at Odsal with the unfortunate Hardisty dismissed for the first time in a 15-year career

During the season, four Leeds players were selected for the World Cup series (in France): John Atkinson, Terry Clawson, John Holmes and David Jeanes.