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Lions maintained their
promotion challenge with a victory over a workmanlike Harrogate, but it
was certainly a game of two very different halves.
Whereas the Lions’ pack enjoyed total domination of the first
period, they went into their shell after the break and seemed content to
hone their tackling skills.
The omens were not good as Tim
Collier’s knock back from the kick-off went into no-man’s land, and a
retreating Mark Edwards had his kick charged down.
Lions were able to scramble the ball clear, but at the expense of a
5-metre scrum. However, Mark
redeemed himself by disrupting Gate’s possession, and Lions were able to
turn the ball over.
Paul Turner opted to run out of
defence, and quick hands along the backs led to quick Hands on the wing,
and young Jordan had his first tilt up the touchline.
50 metres were gained until he stumbled in attempting to beat the
last line of defence and was bundled into touch.
Rob Field continued his rich
vein of form by taking the first line out on Gate’s throw, and Lion’s
pack trundled ominously forward, only to lose possession.
Gate must have heard about Lions’ problems at full back, as a
high kick was launched at Simon Amor who drew the short straw this week
with the unavailability of Ian Hyde who was originally selected but was
injured in training. Simon was upto the task and took a clean catch as the Shed
breathed a communal sigh of relief.
‘Gate continued to press, and
were awarded a penalty for offside that Lee Cholewa duly slotted from 35
metres almost in front of the posts.
Now it was ‘Gate’s turn to run from their own 22, and their
backs made good ground. They continued to threaten with a series of good interpassing
moves in open play, but there was always a Lions’ tackler to snuff out
the danger.
When Lions were again penalised,
this time for not releasing the ball in the tackle, the kick to the corner
set up ‘Gate’s first attacking line out.
Our old adversary John Dudley took a clean catch, but the danger
was averted as ‘Gate were penalised.
Paul Turner took the quick penalty, and the ball was worked out to
Eddie Saunders, but the cover was across in numbers before Eddie could
perform another of his Houdini impressions and perform a miraculous
escape.
With no pressure in terms of
promotion or relegation, ‘Gate were now playing with gay abandon (if
you’ll pardon the expression), but Lions’ were soon to put a stop to
that. The first signs of what
was in store came with yet another Rob Field take from a line out, and
Lion’s pack drove 20 metres before ‘Gate were penalised in stopping
them. The kick at goal was
spurned in favour of a kick to the corner.
All Lions’ had to do was repeat the previous manoeuvre.
Forrest’s take was again clean, but unfortunately this time the
maul quickly went to ground and the opportunity was lost with a knock on.
However, Lions’ pack showed
that they meant business by turning the resultant scrum to gain the put
in. Possession was duly gained and Paul Turner’s astute pass
almost had Jacques Steyn through, but he was caught by his bootlaces, and
Lions’ were penalised as they tried to drive on.
The relieving kick took ‘Gate to half way, and some strong
running by their backs then had Lions retreating
The defence held firm, and Lion’s were awarded a scrum 10 metres
from their own line. Mark
Edwards was impeded as he tried to clear from the base of the scrum, but
‘Gate knocked on to waste a golden opportunity.
| Simon Amor warmed
the cockles of the Shed’s hearts with another excellent take from
a high ball, and his return kick into space had ‘Gate in all sorts
of trouble but they were able to scramble the ball clear. |
| Lions now needed a score to
settle the nerves. Another
Field take saw the forwards trundling deep into ‘Gate territory,
but again the ball was lost. The
relieving kick was not a good one, and Lion’s once again piled on
the pressure. As ‘Gate were penalised, a quick tap saw the forwards drive
to the line for Mark Edwards to burrow his way over. |
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| Paul Turner seemed
to have caught the kicking bug, and after putting kicks over from
all angles in previous weeks, he now contrived to miss the
relatively simple conversion attempt. |
Lions
were now in full flow, and typical sleight of hand by Paul Turner saw
Steve Smith taking a short pass at pace to burst through the first line of
defence. Support was on hand
and Matt Tassell gave Jordan Hands another opportunity to show his paces,
but he was hauled down just short. Simon
Amor then tried a somewhat optimistic drop goal from 40 metres, but his
kick on a sticky pitch was well off target.
At least he had drunk from the poisoned chalice offered by the full
back berth, and had not yet succumbed to its mysterious charms. He was looking extremely safe…….so far!!
A blatant offside by John
Dudley was missed by the referee as he stole the ball and set up a ‘Gate
attack, but Lions were able to clear the danger.
The Lions’ pack were now warming to their task, and another
superb drive set up the position for Simon Amor to hit the line and give
Jordan Hands room to move with a long pass.
Jordan cut inside the full back and as he was caught by the cover,
he flipped the ball to Mark Edwards on the angled run and he raced in for
his second try. Paul Turner
again missed the conversion, but Lions were now starting to stamp their
authority on the game.
| More strong forward
play was spoilt by poor handling, but the Lions’ pack were not to
be denied. A rolling
maul started just inside ‘Gate territory gathered pace as it
reached their 22 metre line. By now it was like an avalanche
thundering down a mountainside…..an out of control juggernaut. |
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‘Gate
continued to throw bodies into its path, but the Lions mean machine
swatted them aside like irritating insects.
With Gate’s line looming, they managed to bring the drive
to an illegal halt, and the referee had no hesitation in awarding
the penalty try. It was
probably a good job that ‘Gate did stop the maul, as at the rate
Lions were going they would probably have smashed through the
perimeter fence and been last seen disappearing into the distance in
a cloud of dust. |
| This time Paul Turner made no
mistake with the conversion to cap a superlative moment that will
live long in the memory |
To their credit, ‘Gate
immediately came back, and when Lions were penalised, a quick tap saw
number 8 Richard Wade storm through a huge gap.
Winger Mark Farrar was up in support and looked a certain scorer
until Jordan Hands hit him with a superb cover tackle that took the winger
into touch by the corner flag. ‘Gate
took a clean line and worked the ball infield to gain the put in at a
scrum. Would Lions concede
their usual try just before half time?
On this occasion a ‘Gate back row move broke down as the ball was
knocked forward, and the referee blew his whistle to end a thoroughly
entertaining first half.
| Half time: |
| Lions
17
Harrogate
3 |
Lions came out for the second
half looking determined to build on their half time lead, and another
score was not long in coming. ‘Gate
knocked on from the kick off, but an elaborate Lions’ back row move from
the resultant scrum came to nought as the ball was knocked forward.
‘Gate could not clear the danger, and Lions gained another scrum
from a ‘Gate knock on. This
time the move was sharp and incisive.
Paul Turner went on a blind side dummy run for Simon Amor to take
the ball infield and give Jacques Steyn the half-yard he needs to make the
break. Matt Tassell was on
hand to continue the move, and his pass to Eddie Saunders saw the veteran
winger in space for the first time in the game.
| Now, if you were a
fit young full back faced by a winger who looks as though he should
have retired years ago, you would most certainly fancy your chances
of stopping him. |
| Unfortunately looks can be
deceptive, and Eddie merely demonstrated his ballroom dancing skills
as he waltzed around the full back leaving him grasping at fresh air
and wondering how this old codger (sorry Eddie) had left him for
dead. |
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| I’ll
bet you can’t guess what Paul Turner then did??
Right first time…..he missed the conversion!! |
Lions now had to survive a
period of ‘Gate pressure, but their tackles went in hard and true, as
typified by Kevin Dunn. If
you’ve ever seen a bulldog chewing a wasp, you can imagine the vision
facing Kevin as John Dudley bore down on him at full pace.
But Kevin stood his ground…….or perhaps he just couldn’t get
out of the way……and Mr. Dudley was brought to ground.
Jacques Steyn was next to show
his strength and power as he stole the ball in a tackle to allow Mark
Edwards to put in a telling kick. Eddie
Saunders and Simon Amor followed up quickly and as the ball went loose,
Steve Smith released Matt Tassell, but the final long pass that put Jordan
Hands in the clear was adjudged forward.
Kevin Dunn was again to the
fore as he covered a kick through, and an audacious dummy saw him set up
another attack. ‘Gate
brought on some fresh legs in an attempt to stem the tide, with Graeme
Sarjeant replacing Craig Reed in the centre.
This seemed to work as ‘Gate
contrived to score a dubious try. When
the ball was worked wide, John Dudley was resting lurking on the
wing, and when he was half stopped he lobbed the ball well forward to the
supporting Mark Farrar to give the wing an unopposed run to the line.
How the referee missed the forward pass when he was within 5 metres
of the play, and I saw it clearly from my position 50 metres away in the
stand is beyond me!! Lee
Cholewa missed the conversion.
Lions again surged forward, and
from a quick line out, Eddie Saunders again found himself in some space,
but this time the cover arrived en masse and Eddie was left looking like
General Custer at his last stand as he was surrounded by hostiles.
Matt Tassell played the part of the 7th Cavalry in
coming to Eddie’s rescue, but the pass went to ground.
Eddie was again in the thick of
the action as he stole the ball in a tackle, but the referee earned the
displeasure of the Lions’ supporters as he penalised Lions for a
mysterious offence. The young
looking referee drew cries of “get back to school” from the main
stand….. a comment worthy of the Shed.
However, the referee quickly turned from villain to hero as he
awarded Lions a penalty 35 metres out.
To groans from the Shed, Simon Amor stepped up to take a shot at
goal. However, the Shed were
soon exercising their cheering muscles as Simon calmly slotted the penalty
to cap an excellent afternoon at full back.
Lions’ supporters were now
looking forward to building a big score, but strangely the team seemed to
retreat into their shell, allowing ‘Gate to dominate the rest of the
half, although they never really threatened a score in the face of some
fierce Lions’ tackling. One tackle by Paul Shadbolt, replacing Phil Greenbury at
prop, stands out in the memory as he unceremoniously dumped his opponent
like a sack of potatoes.
Lions’ play during this
period lacked cohesion. It
looked as though they had read the recipe, they certainly had all the
ingredients, but they lacked a chef to mix it all together.
On the stroke of full time ‘Gate brought some respectability to
the score with another try. Full
back Ed Smithies, who had an excellent game throughout, came into the line
at pace, chipped over Simon Amor, and won the race to touch down for an
individual try. Lee Cholewa
missed the conversion as the referee brought the game to a close.
| Final result: |
| Lions
25
Harrogate
13 |
After a compelling first half
performance by an awesome Lions pack, the second half was something of an
anti climax, but at least we successfully negotiated what was anticipated
to be the most difficult of our remaining matches.
We can now look forward to next week’s trip to Esher with
confidence, but this will be by no means an easy game, and we cannot
afford to relax for a second. However,
the pack looked much more balanced this week with a strong front five and
a back row with pace and power. The
backs also looked the part, with Jacques Steyn adding strength and class
from his normal centre berth. Whatever
team takes the field at Esher, as long as they remain focussed on the task
in hand, the talent is certainly there to see us through.
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