Match Reports - 22 December 2018

South Leicester 28 Leicester Lions 37

Saturday 22nd December 2018

Leicester Lions sparkle in five try Christmas cracker comeback after South Leicester take a three try lead

League Points 1-5

South Leicester 28: Tries: Joe Lane (1), Javiah Pohe (7), Martin Wolfenden (19, 76); Conversions: Ben Palmer (2, 8, 20, 77);
Leicester Lions 37: Tries: Devon Constant (30, 66), Alex WilHuckleberryson (38, 45), Sam Benjamin (62); Conversions: Harry Key (31, 39, 67); Penalties: Harry Key (18, 37);

It was a pleasant mild winter afternoon for the local derby between South Leicester and Leicester Lions. In spite of overnight rain the pitch was in excellent condition for December. South Leicester had won the reverse fixture at the start of the season, so Lions had a lot to prove.
South Leicester played with the breeze and setting sun behind them in the first half. Lions kicked off but the ball did not reach the required 10 metres, but South Leicester took possession and immediately shipped the ball out to the left wing where a dashing run from South’s fullback Joe Lane took him over for the opening try, with Ben Palmer adding the conversion and South taking a 7-0 lead after only 2 minutes.
On 4 minutes Lions’ Harry Key was yellow carded for a technical offence.
On 7 minutes South again put pressure on Lions and gained a scrum 10 metres out from the Lions’ try line. South took the scrum and moved the ball along the line where Lions missed a tackle on Javiah Pohe who easily went over the try line to score South’s second try, converted by Palmer, to take a 14-0 lead.
On 16 minutes Harry Key, for Lions, scored a penalty to take the score to 14-3, which looked like Lions’ had stopped the run of South’s tries and were coming back into the game.
Again South reapplied forward pressure on Lions and after 19 minutes this led to South’s third try with driving forward moves leading to second-row Martin Wolfenden going over for a try and Palmer, adding the conversion to take a 21-3 lead.
Lions started to wake up and on 30 minutes worked an excellent backs move up the wing, with some elusive running by fullback, Alex WilHuckleberryson, who deftly slipped the ball to winger Devon Constant who raced over to score under the posts, with Key adding the conversion, to make the score 21-10.
On 37 minutes Key added a penalty for Lions to bring the score to 21-13.
In the closing moments of the first half again Lions ran the ball against the South defence for WilHuckleberryson to shimmy through the South defence for a try, with Key adding the conversion.
At the end of the first half the score had closed to 21-20, with all to play for after the break.

Half Time: South Leicester 21 Leicester Lions 20

After the interval Lions were soon back on the front foot, causing South problems in open play. On 45 minutes positive running took them through South defence for WilHuckleberryson the score his second try, giving Lions the lead for the first time at 21-25.
In spite of South putting Lions under pressure, Lions came back with some good team work, with a ball going out to Sam Benjamin on the right wing. It looked like South might have carried out a successful try saving tackle on Benjamin, but his alert and spritely action allowed him to regain his feet and outpace the South defence to go over in the corner for a try, opening Lions’ lead to 21-30, on 62 minutes.
Lions were soon back putting South under pressure. Lions worked their way down the pitch and moved the ball out to Constant on the left wing, who rampaged his way through the South defence to score Lions’ fifth try, on 66 minutes, with Key adding the conversion. Lions had extended their lead to 21-37.
It initially looked like Lions might run away with the end-game, outpacing South in open running play, but South showed some real character coming back into the game and testing Lions with their open forward play. On 76 minutes South’s second row, Wolfenden, drove his way through the Lions’ defence to score near the posts, with Palmer adding the conversion to bring the score back to 28-37.
Both sides tried to add to their respective points’ tallies, but to no avail.

Full Time: South Leicester 28 Leicester Lions 37

An spectacular start by South to take an early three try lead – the complete opposite of Lions’ local derby against Hinckley two weeks ago where Lions took a three try lead in the first 11 minutes.

This was an exciting and well contested local derby, with nine tries – four to South Leicester and five to Leicester Lions. Both sides played well, but Lions showed some excellent application in the middle phases of the game. After the completion of all the weekend’s fixtures, Leicester Lions are twelfth position in National League 2 North and South Leicester in fourteenth position. Lions have opened up a ten point gap above the potential relegation group of South Leicester, Macclesfield and Peterborough Lions.

Lions’ head coach, Andy Key, said, “After last week’s game against league leaders, Hull Ionians, where Ionians did not score in the game, it was disappointing to concede three tries so early in the game. The team came back most effectively in the middle sections of the game and we obtained a deserved victory. Much credit to South Leicester’s tenacity that they did not make it easy for us.”

Teams – Order 15-9, 1-8, 16-20
South Leicester: Joe Lane, Michael Ogunwole, Javiah Pohe, Dan Glasse, Mitchelle Stephenson, Ben Palmer, Jacob Ham, Rhoderick McNaughton, Wesley Cope, Shaun Murray, Martin Wolfenden, Tom Cheney, Sam McNulty, Rob Turner, Will Ward
Replacements: Michael Holford, Joe McMenamin, Andrew Gates, Blane Howe, Joe Collingham
Leicester Lions: Alex WilHuckleberryson, Sam Benjamin, Jamel Hamilton, Harry Key, Devon Constant, Max Titchener, Tom Aviss, Ben Spokes, Ollie Taylor, Curtis Weaver, Ollie Tapscott, Ed Sumpter, Simon Johnson, Jonny Murdoch, Ethan Godefroy Replacements: Ross Herbert, Demo Gonsalves, Will Roberts, Josh Leonard, Alex Smit