Leeds Carnegie 86 Gala 8: McColl and Doherty clinch hat-tricks as Leeds enjoy Gala day

The Yorkshire club has opted to take two of their three Cup games to grounds around the county as part of chairman Sir Ian McGeechan’s vision for the club and there was an appreciative crowd at Clifton Park to enjoy the action.

Gala opened the scoring through a penalty from fly half Gregor Mein but Nathan Hannay and Fred Burdon replied with two quick tries, Hughes converting the latter.

The Leeds pack were in dominant mood and Burrows capitalised from the base of the scrum for the next score before Lucock secured the try bonus point with his side’s fourth try inside 23 minutes. Hughes converted both tries to give his side a 26-3 lead.

The small band of supporters who had travelled down from the Borders to support their side were give something to cheer shortly afterwards when Mein crossed following a good spell of pressure from Gala.

However, any hopes of a fightback were soon dashed as Craig Hampson and McColl finished off the half with two more tries. Hughes converted both to give Leeds a 40-8 lead at the break.

There was no let up from Leeds after the break as David Doherty ran in two quick tries and the lead was stretched even further with two more tries just before the hour mark. Gala had been gaining a foothold in the second half after those early set backs but Leeds back rower James Doyle was alert to the threat and intercepted 25 metres out as the visitors looked to spread the ball wide and he had a simple run in for the try.

Leeds Met student Robbie Martey scored a well-deserved try. He showed some quick thinking to take a quick tap at a penalty close in and stepped around the full back to score.

After a lull in the scoring for 10 minutes Leeds finished the game with another try scoring flourish. Matt Smith was driven over from a line out, David Doherty completed his hat-trick down the left wing before McColl capped a man-of-the-match performance with two late tries to collect his own hat-trick.

Head coach James Lowes said: “I was pleased with how we kept up our intensity, we spoke about it at half time and not letting the scoreboard influence our play and I thought we did that.”

Leeds Carnegie: McColl, Martey (Lozowski, 58), Lucock (Barker, 58), Burdon, D Doherty, Hughes, Hampson, Imiolek (Harris, 40), J Walker (Nilsen, 63), Beech (Tussac, 63), Hannay, Smith, Doyle, Rowan, Burrows (Walker, 52).

Gala: Speirs, Somerville, Auld, Emond (Scott, 44), Robertson, Mein (McLean, 65), Geo Graham (Hart, 40), Sutherland (Bertram, 74), MacKintosh (Anderson, 50), Hilterbrand Weir, Palepoi (Borthwick, 60), Gary Graham, Cairns, Weir (Tod, 24)

Referee: Steve Lee (RFU).

Rotherham Titans were denied what would have been a memorable victory, when full-back Darragh Leader kicked a late penalty from inside his own half to give Connacht Eagles a 27-25 victory.

Titans’ tries came from Jack Preece, Charlie Mulchrone, Tom Cruse, while Lloyd Hayes kicked two penalties and a conversion, with Dallan Murphy adding a further conversion.