1973-1974

6th June, 2017 By Phil Daly

It was back to two Divisions, and a fixture programme which had neither rhyme nor reason: the first half of the season, cluttered with knock-out competitions, reduced spectator to confusion and bewilderment; the second half, hopelessly congested with league fixture, taxed playing resources to unbearable limits. In the circumstances, it was hardly surprising that Leeds, entering a period of transition, should find life at the top increasingly hard and have to make do with winning the Esso Yorkshire Cup for the twelfth time.

Four established players were signed during the season: David Marshall and Phil Sanderson from the disbanded Hunslet club; John Ward, briefly on trial, from Salford; and Mervyn Hicks, from Hull; and nine other players, from various Junior clubs were introduced: Bryan Adams, Stephen Cooper, Kevin Coussons, Steven Dickens, Roy Dickinson, Paul Fletcher, John Hutchinson, Brian Murrell, and Derek Parker. Eight players were transferred: Geoff Nicholls and Fred Pickup, to New Hunslet; Bill Ramsey, to Bradford Northern; Terry Clawson and Brian Hughes, to Oldham; Derek Edwards, to Keighley; Barry Parker, to Wakefield Trinity; and Alan Hardisty, to Rockhampton, in Australia.

Consistently sound in defence throughout August and September, and at times devastat?ing in attack, Leeds scored 51 tries and conceded only 7 in the first eleventh matches of the season, losing just once, at Wilderspool, in the league, and winning all SIX Cup-ties. Even so, there were moments of anxiety: at Bramley, salvation came by virtue of a Ramsey drop goal; at Mount Pleasant, in the 2nd Round of the Esso Yorkshire Cup, stubborn Batley were trailing by only three points, until we ran in three second-half tries in a six-minute tantrum of frustration; and Bradford Northern were most uncooperative in the subsequent Semi-Final, with the five-point verdict in favour of Leeds held in abeyance right up to the final hooter. The elimination of Hull in the Preliminary Round of the Floodlit Competition was surprisingly easy, however, with Marshall kicking seven goals at The Boulevard to mark his debut; and Bradford Northern presented few problems at Odsal in the 1st Round of the John Player Competition.

Five games played; four won; points for 57; points against 471. Wear and tear was already beginning to show in October! A 1st Round Floodlit victory by a single point over tenacious Keighley, was followed by a chapter of accidents at Belle Vue, with Atkinson carried off, Marshall missing a sitter of a penalty, and Wakefield scoring a crucial gift try when Leeds failed to play to the whistle. Nevertheless, with Hynes in spellbinding form, we put paid to St. Helens and went into the Yorkshire Cup Final against Wakefield Trinity with ground advantage, Headingley having been chosen as the venue at the outset of the Competition. In a stirring encounter, Wakefield drew first blood through a Crook penalty, but Hepworth, ever prodding and probing, set up a try for Langley, and a towering 35-yard drop goal from Hynes gave Leeds a 5-2 interval lead. It was a cut-and-thrust second half, a solid Leeds defence and a Marshall penalty ensuring that the Cup remained at Headingley, with Trinity left to ponder whether the tables would have been reversed had the Final been played at Belle Vue. Be that as it may, ending the month with yet another knock-out clash with Bradford Northern, Leeds went into the 2nd Round of the Captain Morgan Compe?tition with a 14-6 win at Odsal.

Leeds played just three League games in November and December, and won them all, but went down for the count three times in the knock-outs. In the Floodlit, we got away to a fine start against Hull K.R., with two Alan Smith tries in the first five minutes, but it was 10-10 at the interval, and Millward had the last word with a penalty goal; in the Captain Morgan, we disposed of Swinton, only to lose at home to Warrington in a confrontation all too reminiscent of Henry Morgan?s skull and cross-bones; and our John Player hopes sank in the Rochdale mud, with Holliday kicking an incredible 40-yard, left-foot drop goal in injury-time.

January provided a novel experience, by way of four consecutive league matches! Leeds won them all in convincing style, too, especially at Central Park, where we trailed 6-15 at half-time, yet scored 23 points without reply in a magnificent second-half display. Now it was back to R.L. Cup rugby again, and more frustration in the 1st Round at Mount Pleasant, with only a one-point lead and fifteen minutes to go, until Clarkson ensured victory with a solo effort that took him through three tackles and between the posts. ?Les Diables Rouges? at Headingley! Memories of Barney Hudson, Gus Risman, Alan Edwards, Emlyn Jenkins, Jack Feetham, and others in that famous team of the 1930?s came flooding back as Salford went down 10-6 in the 2nd Round, with their colours still bravely nailed to the mast. To win at Crown Flatt in the 3rd Round, lacking Dyl, Hepworth and Hynes from the start, and with Holmes carried off in the first ten minutes, was a tall order. Even so, with the inex?perienced Coussons and Fletcher operating at half-back, Leeds courageously defied the odds for seventy minutes, until Chalkley slammed the Wembley gates in our faces with the only try of the match.

At this stage, Leeds had played 16 league matches in 29 weeks and won 13 of them now, in a frantic chase, which made no concession to injuries and reduced the programme to an absolute travesty, we played no less than 14 matches in five weeks, and won only 7, to finish in 3rd place. Of the many young players pressed into service, none made a more impressive debut than Bryan Adams, who scored three tries at Salford, to lighten the gloom of a crushing 13-61 defeat.

Breathing time was allowed between rounds in the play-off! In the 1st Round Keighley floundered in the second half, in face of a scoring spree inspired by Hepworth and Batten; in the 2nd, with Widnes 7-3 ahead and 17 minutes to go, all seemed lost until Hepworth cracked the whip, for Leeds to surge to victory in a breathtaking 17-point rally. Exhaustion won in the end! Leading 10-3 at half-time in the Semi-Final, Leeds collapsed in the second half, St. Helens running us into the ground with a superb non-stop display, to win 23-10.

John Atkinson and Les Dyl were initially selected for the Australasian Tour. Bill Ramsey joined them later, as a replacement.

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