Leeds Carnegie ran in nine tries to go four points clear at the top of National Division One with an emphatic display against Mancester at Headingley Carnegie.
Leeds made a raft of changes to the side that defeated Rotherham last Sunday with Neil Back looking to give some of the younger members of the squad a chance to shine against the league's bottom club.
However, despite nine changes some things did not change and so it was with first try scorer, Hendre Fourie. The South African back rower notched up his sixth try in five games this season after breaking off a maul close to the Manchester line after three minutes.
Carnegie skipper Mike MacDonald was the next recipient of the dominant work of the home line out, when he emerged as the final player from a mass of bodies that surge over the line. Alberto Di Bernardo converted both to give Leeds a 14-0 lead after just six minutes.
The newly-promoted side showed real characted not to buckle after that early onslaught and they were not afraid to try and throw the ball around to find a way through the Leeds defence, However, too often they ran out of options and individuals got themselves isolated. They did have a chance to get on the scoreboard but former Halifax winger Joe Knowles hooked his attempted penalty wide after 23 minutes.
For their part, Leeds were opening Manchester up at will only for the move to fall down on the last pass. They did eventually get a third try after 33 minutes when Pete Wackett marked an impressive debut but taking an inside ball off Di Bernardo to score next to the post. The fly half then added the conversion to make it 21-0.
Manchester were reduced to 14 men in the final minute of the half when referee Rowan Kitt lost patience with their repeated offences at the break down and centre Scott Rawlings was dispatched to sin bin. Leeds opted to take a scrum which eventually saw Jon Dunbar driven over. Di Bernardo missed the conversion so Carnegie led 26-0 at the break.
The lead was extended four minutes into the second half when MacDonald produced a bullocking run from ten metres out to carry three would be tacklers over the line with him and score. James Brooks, who had replaced Di Bernardo at half time, was unable to add the conversion.
Back then introduced a number of replacements including Academy products Dan White and Scott Freer for their debut. Inevitably that was going to disrupt the flow of the game and it took ten minutes for Leeds to settle back into their stride with a number of chances going begging. However, they finally click near the hour with three tries in five minutes. Firstly, Dunbar took advantage of a good break by Wackett to score his second try, then the young collected his second score with a great piece of finishing down the wing after being released by White.
Finally, Lund was the benefactor of another White offload after replacement Leigh Hinton had broken clear in midfield. Brooks converted the last to make it 50-0 after 63 minutes.
Carnegie continued to batter away at the Manchester line but again the final pass failed to go to hand. However, they did cap off the performance with a try in the last minute when Brooks ghosted round the back of the defence to score in the corner. He converted his own try to make the final score 57-0 and send Leeds Carnegie to the top of National Division One.
Leeds Carnegie: Goodridge, Armstrong, Vickerman, H Paul, Wackett, Di Bernardo, Bedford, MacDonald, Nilsen, Bucknall, Lund, Myall, Dunbar, Fourie, Oakley
Replacements: McGee for MacDonald (62), Freer for Nilsen (51), Denton for Myall (71), Boyde for Fourie (66), White for Bedford (51), Brooks for Di Bernardo (HT), Hinton for Wackett (62)
Manchester: Coulbeck, Wellock, Parrott, Rawlings, Knowles, Wainwright, Stringer, Gadd, Platt, Flynn, Collier, Norris, Owen, Lewis, Moss
Replacements: Mantell for Gadd (70), C Wilson for Platt (53), Ralph for Norris (53), Keep, Runciman for Stringer (50), Wynne for Knowles (43), A Wilson
Referee; Rowan Kitt