LEEDS CELTICS

This year’s Varsity fixture was played in aid of two charities, with Carnegie and the Celtics supporting Breast Cancer Awareness and Candlelighters UK respectively. This, coupled with significant promotion of the event, meant that one of the biggest crowds the fixture has ever had turned out to watch the two sides battle it out on Rugby 1.

The Celtics were set to receive the ball on the opening kickoff, but the kick sailed over the head of their return man, meaning the offence had to go to work at their own 20-yard line. There were initially some problems with fumbles, but an excellent outside run from HB Toby Richardson gave the Celtics a 20 yard gain, and some breathing space as they moved out towards midfield.  A series of inside runs went for a modest gain, but it was a pass to TE Alex Hall for another 15 yards that allowed the home side to build up some momentum as they moved into opposition territory.

 

More good running from Toby Richardson and WR/SS James Carmichael gave the Celtics another first down, and put them within 15 yards of the goal-line. However, as one of Carnegie’s linebackers blitzed through the line and put pressure on QB Felix Titherley, a pass intended for a green jersey fell short into the hands of a Leeds Met player. Although he was tackled quickly and for little yardage, the damage had been done, and the Celtic offence came off the field, having failing to draw the first blood.  

 

The Carnegie offence seemed to take the home side by surprise in their aggression and was able to move the ball down the field for a series of first downs, injuring starting MLB Tom Robinson in the process, before a counter play allowed a Carnegie player to find a running lane into the Leeds secondary, from where he was able to cut past the safeties for the score, putting the first points on the board: 0-7.

 

On the kick return that followed, some confusion in assignments on the part of the Celtics meant that Carmichael ended up running into one of his own players, and was tackled before he could recover his speed. RB Oscar Taherbeigi was able to make up some yards on one play when the home side took possession, but ultimately it wasn’t enough, and the Celtics were forced to punt the ball away.

 

With the Celtic defence on the field once again, the Carnegie offence tried a sequence of outside runs, which went for two first downs, before DE Rory Ellis got free and tackled one of the Leeds Met RBs in the backfield for a 5-yard loss. On the very next play, as the Met QB tossed the ball to the outside on an option, it fell into the hands of LB Fred Gough, giving the offence another chance to put together a drive.

 

Unfortunately, a fumble proved to be the Celtics’ undoing, and as the quarter came to a close, Carnegie resumed their offensive. The home side’s defence put up a good stand, giving Carnegie less than 5 yards as they went 4 and out, giving the Celtic’s offence another change. They appeared to capitalize on this, with Toby knifing to the outside for another 10-yard, 1^st –down run. After a running play went for little gain, the Celtics took to the air, Titherley finding Alex Hall 15 yards downfield to keep the drive going. Shortly after, a large proportion of those gains were negated when a combination of an offensive penalty and a tackle in the backfield left the Celtics facing a 2^nd & very long situation.

 

However, a well executed reverse play from James Carmichael gave the Celtics another chance, putting them within 5 yards of another 1^st down. After a 3^rd down attempt came short, Alex Hall continued to have a fantastic game, reeling in another brilliant catch and giving the Celtic offence another 1^st down.

 

After recovering a bad snap on 1^st down, Titherley made 8 yards to the outside on an option, once again putting the Celtics close to a score. A penalty gave them another opportunity to advance the ball, although this made little yardage. Toby was able to make the important yards once again, and the Celtics moved closer still to the goal-line. The next play saw Carmichael fall agonizingly short of the goal, giving them 1^st & goal by a yard. Unfortunately, as Titherley tried to make yards after contact and drive the ball into the endzone, he was hit awkwardly and fumbled the ball, where it was then dived on by Carnegie players to deny the Celtics a look-in on the scoreboard once again.

 

With the home side’s defence on the field once again, Carnegie managed to break to the outside, removing some of the pressure as they gained a 1^st down. However, they were able to make little progress before the referee’s whistle drew the half to a close.

Following a medium return from Carnegie, the Celtic’s defence took back to the field, although not for long – one of the running backs fumbled the ball, with LB Jonathan Windridge managing to successfully fall on it and return possession back to the home side.

 

American TE/DE/QB Kyle Hash tried his hand at QB for the resulting drive, and despite a few bad snaps and exchanges, he was able to make up the lost yardage on outside runs, before a sequence of various penalties had the Celtics held on 4^th down. Sadly, the offence was able to make the required number of yards, and turned the ball back over to Leeds Met.

Carnegie capitalized on this, first with an aggressive dive play that went for a first down, and then with another inside run that went for over 40 yards as a result of a series of missed tackles and assignments. Although the Met player was stopped short of the goal-line, this made little difference to the scoreboard, as the visitors were able to punch into the endzone on their next play, the score 0-14.

 

On the ensuing kickoff, James Carmichael unintentionally took a knee when fielding the kick, meaning that the Celtic offence began their drive deep within their own territory. This time, QB James Warren was at the helm, although he had little more success than his predecessors, ultimately being forced into a 3 & out following more fumbles.  

 When the Carnegie offence took to the field, their running back was forced into fumbling the ball once again in what was becoming a recurring problem for both teams, and the Celtics had another offensive chance as Robinson dived on the ball. They capitalized on this, with Titherley finding a lane to the outside on another option play, making a 20 yard gain in the process. However, the offence were unable to repeat this feat, and a sack on 4^th down returned possession to the Met.

The Leeds Met offence had little more success however, going 4 and out over the end of the third quarter following solid tackling from the whole of the Celtic defence. On offence, Taherbeigi made another good 8 yard outside run, although a series of tackles for loss meant the Celtics had to punt the ball away on 4^th & 10. A great punt from CB/P Ben Smith left Carnegie inside their own 10, and a good defensive stand meant Met elected to punt for the first time in the game. A long punt also put the Celtics deep in their own territory; there was some confusion on the play however, as no Celtic or Carnegie player touched the ball, meaning it was technically still live, yet the referee still picked the ball up, before putting it back down again as both sides came to realize the ball could be advanced.

 

After this confusion had been dealt with, the Celtic offence attempted to put a drive together in a last-ditch attempt to even out the scoreboard and get back into the game. However, it was ultimately not to be, and despite using all four downs, they were unable to make any ground; this gave Carnegie great field position to press home their victory. Although the home side’s defence tried their best to keep the Met out of the endzone, they were ultimately unable to do so, and Carnegie moved up to 0-21.

 

In the final minutes of the game, the Celtic defence tried to pull out all the stops to give their offence another chance to put points on the board, but it was too late, and as the final whistle blew on a tough and physical game, Carnegie emerged victors for the second year in a row.