After a heavy away defeat, Leeds City College were looking to redress the balance against their counterparts from Wakefield.
As the match kicked off the heavens opened, the weather affecting the skills on show with both sides uncharacteristically spilling the ball in the opening quarter.
Wakefield were the first to master the rain and began to dominate field position, scoring the opening try when stand-off Chad Moss reacted cleverly to a quick play the ball and charged down the blind side, converting his own effort to make it 0-6.
That seemed to galvanise the Leeds pack, led by tough running front rowers Joe McGechaen, Ian Fox and the introduction of substitute Tom Logan. Their strong charges and quick play the balls set a great platform for hooker Jordan Anderson who became an increasing menace.
Leeds loose forward Declan Tomlinson scored a spectacular effort to bring the host’s back into the contest, picking up the ball at the base of the scrum on half way line and showing a clean pair of heels as he burst clear, bulldozed his way through the remnants of the Wakefield defence and handed off a covering defender as he crossed the line. Winger Jordan Rivers was unable to add the extras.
The home side were unlucky not to be in front at the break, Brad Cox – on trial at Leeds Rhinos Academy – losing the ball as he attempted to touch down from a fine pass by Kane Riley and skipper Dwaine McRae adjudged to have knocked on when chasing a well-weighted kick to the in-goal from the tricky Anderson.
The second half was a tense affair, the visitors conceding a penalty in front of their posts which Ashton Waterhouse landed to level matters.
Wakefield forced a handling error with a dominant tackle and capitalised to score their second try, Harry Carter burrowing his way over and Moss goaling to give his side a six point lead.
As the weather began to improve, Leeds half-backs Riley and Will Milner began to dominate and sparked some impressive, expansive play.
Tomlinson, McRae and second rower Xavirier Martin made their mark with aggressive runs and smart offloads and Leeds got their reward for staying patient after Wakefield had defended their own line three consecutive sets in a row.
Once again Cox linked up with Riley, Cox taking the final scoring pass and Waterhouse converting to level with 15 minutes to go.
In a terrific finish, Leeds had more spark and were more adventurous but the Wakefield defence stood proud.
What eventually broke the deadlock was some smart individual brilliance. Leeds had set up for what looked like a cross field kick by stand-off Milner but full-back Waterhouse, lurking behind the played-the-ball called late for the pass and landed a sensational 40 metre drop goal to down the reigning national champions.
Leeds City College Man of the Match went Anderson who played out of position at hooker but was a constant thorn.
Coach Jonny Wainhouse was thrilled in the aftermath. “This is a win that our boys will remember and one they should be proud of,” he said. “Wakefield are a strong side but our players are improving and that was evident today. As we saw from the celebrations at the end, it meant a lot to us but it was only two points and our boys are very grounded, It will be back in training as normal, working on the little things that will continually improve their game and the team’s performance,”
Leeds City College
1. Aston Water house
2. Isaac Ussman
3. Douglas Foster
4. Raufat Bashir
5. Jordan River
6. Will Milner
7. Kane Riley
8. Ian Fox
9. Jordan Anderson
10. Joe Mechaen
11. Dwaine McRae
12. Brad Cox
13. Declan Tomlinson
14. Danny Wheatley
15. Tom Logan
16. Xauirier Martin
17. David Marsden
18. Jordan Obien
19. Joe Baker
20. Karl Hargreaves
Wakefield College
1. Thomas Bentley
2. Dan Cahill
3. Tom Rogers
4. Ash Hayes
5. Adam Richardson
6. Chad Moss
7. Scott Talbot
8. Aidan Ward
9. Josh Kitch
10. Ryan Kelsey
11. James Crowther
12. Jack Walter
13. Liam Ellis
14. Luke Muffet
15. Jack Walsh
16. Joe Bachelor
17. Mark Carter