Leeds claim first victory

Win gives struggling Premiership outfit much-needed boost

Last updated: 9th October 2010  

Leeds claim first victory

Fa'afili: Late try

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Leeds clinched their first victory of the season with a 23-9 triumph over Bucuresti Oaks in their Amlin Challenge Cup clash on Saturday.

Young Fly-half Christian Lewis-Pratt was hugely influential in the Pool Four clash at a rain-sodden Stadionul Arcul de Triumf.

The 19-year-old struck eight points with the boot to put his side in control after the Yorkshiremen had fallen behind early on.

An injury time try by Henry Fa'afili then put the game beyond doubt to give the struggling Premiership club a much-needed boost to their season.

Saturday's showdown was the third meeting between the sides in the last 12 months after they were drawn together in the pool stage last year.

Leeds won both previous encounters, clinching a narrow 10-6 victory in Romania before romping to a massive 47-0 demolition at Headingley.

Dominance

Bucuresti made a bright start to the match, Florin Vlaicu slotting a well-struck penalty in the sixth minute to put the hosts into a 3-0 lead.

Vlaicu and Lewis-Pratt then exchanged further penalties to notch up the only other first half points and take the scores to 6-3 at the interval.

Leeds came out fired up for the second half and on 60 minutes the dominance of their pack paid off when they were awarded a penalty try following a series of scrum collapses.

Lewis-Pratt converted and soon after added a second penalty to give Neil Back's men a 13-6 lead.

But the hosts would not go quietly and whittled Leeds' advantage down with two more penalties before Samoan international Fa'afili dashed their hopes with his late score.

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