Crociati Rugby 6 Leeds Carnegie 46: Successive wins put a smile on faces of strugglers

While director of rugby Andy Key was not getting carried away after the seven-try demolition of the Italian minnows he did admit that his side will take a lot of confidence from their back-to-back wins in Europe for the all together more important trio of matches that loom large on the horizon for Leeds Carnegie in the Aviva Premiership.

On Boxing Day, Leeds will travel to the North East looking for a repeat of last season's win against Newcastle Falcons before they entertain Gloucester at Headingley Carnegie on New Year's Day. Finally, they will travel to Bath at the end of the first week of New Year.

Leeds will be looking for at least two wins from those games to kick start their campaign as they look to drag themselves off the foot of the table.

However, Leeds did allow themselves a moment to enjoy only a third win of the season after victory in Parma and Key reflected the mood in the camp after the game, "I thought in the first 20 minutes we were very clinical.

"We scored two tries but could have had a few more and that laid the platform for what happened in the second half. On reflection, we will come away with big smiles on our faces and that is a nice position to be in.

"It was a great team effort and I think certain players stepped up to the plate and showed us what they are capable of."

Leeds started brightly with Ceiron Thomas, restored to his natural position of fly-half, taking the game to the home side. His dart through the middle got Leeds on the front foot.

From there the forwards took over. Leeds had a scrum near the line and drove over only for the home pack to collapse the scrum at the crucial moment. French official Cedric Marchat had no alternative but to award the penalty try, which Thomas converted to make it 7-0.

Crociati were struggling in the set-piece and had back-row Delnevo sin-binned for another infringement at a scrum after 16 minutes.

However, that seemed to galvanise the hosts into some strong defence and they denied Leeds on a number of occasions. Just as they were restored to 15 men however they conceded their second try when Michael Stephenson showed strong upper-body strength to hold off a challenge in the corner and score. Thomas was unable to convert but Leeds were now 12-0 in front.

The remainder of the half was a frustrating one for Leeds as they were unable to build on their lead and saw replacement fly-half Anversa kick two penalties for Crociati to halve the visitors advantage. Thomas got a penalty back for Leeds to make it 15-6 heading into the interval but Carnegie were then reduced to 14 men when Leigh Hinton was sin-binned for a professional foul.

The Leeds coaching staff made wholesale changes at the break, bringing off their key players with one eye on next week's trip to Newcastle.

Despite some early threats from Crociati, there was always a feeling that Leeds' superior fitness and skill levels would tell in the end, as they had at Headingley seven days earlier.

So it was when Leeds wrapped up the bonus point with two further tries before the hour mark.

The first was a well-deserved score from Lee Blackett, adding to the two he scored in the previous meeting, before a rampaging run from Mike MacDonald set up the position for Rhys Oakley to go over for his side's all-important fourth try.

With the pressure off, Leeds started to play with more fluidity and the replacements were clearly looking to make a point to the coaching staff as to their merits for inclusion from the start.

Luther Burrell marked his return to action with a fine performance and capped it with the best try of the game after a break by Henry Fa'afili. Fa'afili appears to enjoy playing in Europe and, having had his best game for the club last week, he crossed for two late tries here. Both relied upon his powerful running and there appeared to be little heart in the Crociati defence to deny him.

The only fear for Leeds on a bitterly cold afternoon was the potential for injuries, however Key was pleased to report a clean bill of health.

He said: "We pulled Hendre Fourie out this morning as he had a slight twinge which we didn't want to risk in the cold but everyone else has come through in good shape and we will travel to Newcastle in good spirits."

Crociati Rugby: Trevisan, Fa'atau, Tobia (En Naour 72), Damiani, Woodman, Iannone (Anversa 22), Ireland (Minari 48), Singh (Giazzon 59), Saccomani (Balboni 40), Scarparo (Pepoli 70), Kolo'ofai, Sigg, Delnevo, Orlandi (Maestri 52), Mandelli. Unused replacements: Frati.

Leeds Carnegie: Hinton, Blackett (Tadulala 52), Fa'afili, Barrow, Stephenson, Thomas (Burrell 40), Fury (Mathie 59), MacDonald (Hardy 59), Thompson (Nilsen 42), Swainston (Denman 38), Denton, Wentzel (Myall 40), Oakley, To'oala, Browne (Paul 40).

Referee: C Marchat (France).