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A large contingent of Lions’
supporters travelled to Park hoping to roar the team to victory, but
instead they witnessed a determined Park side make Lions fight every inch
of the way for a share of the spoils.
The opening skirmishes were a
stop start affair, with Park’s Lysander Strong coming on as a temporary
blood replacement for Eben Rollitt, and Lions’ Rob Field needing
attention several times for his contact lenses.
With Lions’ fielding their
biggest pack for some time, the signs were good as they stole possession
at the first line from Park’s throw.
However, the signs were not so good when Lions were shunted
backwards at the first scrum and lost the ball against the head, although
Park did seem to have some forward momentum before the ball was put in.
Sheddites had questioned the
wisdom of playing Dave Muckalt at flanker, with Steve Smith at number 8
and Angus Innes on the other flank .
The concern was over their mobility in the loose, and certainly
Park were quicker to the initial breakdowns, and Lions immediately
conceded a penalty, which was drilled to the corner.
A good take and drive by Park set up the position for Paul Roblin
to strike a neat drop goal to give Park the first points.
From the kick off, Lions
forwards drove straight back at Park making good ground before Park killed
the ball on the floor……the first of a series of similar offences that
littered Park’s game and denied the Lions forwards any opportunity of
building any sort of momentum. The
penalty was the first moment of truth for Simon Amor.
After the disastrous efforts of the last couple of weeks, would he
at last have found his kicking boots?
Simon stood the test well, and duly converted the penalty from 35
metres to put Lions on level terms.
Jacques Steyn was next to be
tested, with a high kick reaching him along with several Park players.
Again Jacques was up to the task, and took the ball brilliantly.
An untidy passage of play followed, with both sides kicking
aimlessly to each other. Surely
a wrong option on Lions’ part. Sadly again we saw them kicking away good
possession, when the game plan should have been to use the pack to batter
Park into submission.
Lions then conspired to loose a
line out on their own throw…….difficult to believe with so many target
men…..and were then penalised for going over the top. Paul Roblin
converted the penalty to restore Park’s lead.
It was a nervy start by Lions who were finding it difficult to
establish any rhythm in a stop / start first period that was dominated by
the referee’s whistle.
Park were again guilty of
killing the ball on several occasions, and Lions’ at last started to
exert some pressure from the resultant penalties.
However, Park’s defence held firm, and after enjoying much of the
territorial advantage, it was Lions’ who conceded the first try.
A miss move and pop pass saw Park’s centre break the first line
of defence, and although Jacques Steyn checked progress with a good
tackle, the centre was able to get his pass away to the supporting James
Justice who galloped over by the posts for an excellent try.
Paul Roblin duly added the conversion.
Lions badly needed a score, but
unfortunately it was Park who next added to their account.
Another poor kick from Simon Amor was straight to Park’s James
Justice. Simon seemed to have found his place-kicking boots, but at the
expense of his line-kicking ones!! When
the Park full back returned the kick with interest, Simon was caught out
by a bad bounce and ended up in two minds as to whether to take the ball
or let it roll as it bobbled along the touch line.
With several Park players bearing down on him, Lions infringed in
trying to tidy up, and the penalty was curiously taken well infield to
allow Paul Roblin to extend Park’s lead.
At 16 – 3 Lions now
desperately needed a score as they again had to play catch up rugby.
Driven on by their supporters the Lions’ pack at last started to
exert the sort of pressure that we know they are capable of.
However they were denied a score by some excellent do-or-die
tackling from Park, coupled with a string of penalties for killing the
ball and offside. A penalty try must have been a whisker away!!
Each penalty was kicked into touch to set up another Lions’ line,
and each time the ball was duly won and driven at the Park defence.
| After Paul Shadbolt
almost burrowed his way over at the corner, the relentless pressure
finally paid dividends as Jacques Steyn found room on the short side
to power over for a well deserved try.
Lions’ supporters breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Simon Amor missed the difficult conversion from wide out into
a stiff breeze. |
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Steyn in at the corner |
| Half time |
| Rosslyn Park
16
Lions
8 |
It was not proving to be a good
day at the office for Lions, and the omens were not good at the start of
the second half. With the
strong breeze at their backs, Lions should have been drilling the ball to
the corners and pegging Park in their own half.
Unfortunately Lions’ kicking from hand was woeful, with the ball
inevitably going straight to a Park player allowing them to drive back at
Lions. In addition, Lions’
scrum looked to be in all sorts of trouble as they were driven back every
time resulting in a lack of clean ball.
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However,
it was Lions that got the all important first score, as Park were
again penalised for killing the ball.
The penalty to the corner was good, the take and drive was
text book, and Park had no answer to Lions’ rolling maul as Steve
Smith emerged to claim the try.
Again Simon Amor’s conversion was wide……but only just. At least Simon was now striking the ball well, but the all
important points were going begging.
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| Steve Smith is driven over |
| In the foreground is 'Parks coach,
no doubt he had something non too complimentary to say about this
try. |
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Now Lions were starting to play
with some authority, and when Park again killed the ball, the offending
player was at last yellow carded for his sins, Graham Boardman being the
culprit on this occasion. This
time Simon Amor’s kick was straight and true, and Lions had clawed their
way back into the lead. With
a man advantage, the pressure on Lions’ scrum would surely be relieved,
and there was a golden opportunity to build on the narrow lead.
Unfortunately, having at last
found his yellow card, the referee decided to use it again, but this time
it was Lion’s Dave Muckalt who was sin-binned for holding on.
A somewhat harsh decision to say the least, especially as in the
next passage of play Park were penalised for the same offence, but without
the same punishment.
Now Lions scrum was in total
disarray with Tim Collier seeming to be bothered by his niggling knee
injury. He was certainly taking no real active part in any line out,
and it would seem that he was unable to apply any pressure in the scrums.
Park were taking full advantage of Lions’ inability to get and
retain any quality possession, and now it was their turn to apply
pressure, but Lions’ defence held firm.
At this point Paul Turner
replaced Ian Hyde, with Simon Amor moving to full back.
Could Paul now bring some stability to the floundering ship?
It would seem not as Lions were penalised in the shadow of their
posts. Paul Roblin caused
Park hearts to flutter as he conspired to hit the post with the simple
kick, but it struggled over to bring Park back on level terms.
Lions scrummaging was getting
worse, and it was now all Park. Young
Jordan Hands relieved the pressure with an excellent weaving run which was
stopped unceremoniously by a dangerous head high tackle that both the
referee and Touch Judge somehow managed to miss. The misdemeanour was
committed right in front of a large group of Lions’ supporters who
venting their displeasure, which was added to by a sad section of Park’s
support who acknowledged and applauded the illegal event.
With Jordan receiving treatment the referee added insult to injury
by awarding the scrum to Park. Justice
was almost done as Park were penalised and Simon Amor lined up a difficult
kick in injury time which would surely seal victory for Lions.
Sadly his kick drifted agonisingly wide and the referee drew the
contest to a close.
| Final result: |
| Rosslyn Park
19
Lions
19 |
Not one of Lions’ best
performances, but nevertheless a good point won against a committed Park
side, and a referee who ought to be committed!!
With Lions vastly superior points difference over Park, one point
is enough to leave us firmly in the driving seat.
We must now treat every game as a cup final and ensure that the
team goes out with the right mental attitude and wins all of our remaining
games. A difficult task with
teams seeming to raise their game against us, but one that is certainly
achievable.
With Bracknell enjoying a good
win against Harrogate, it is difficult to see them slipping up to allow us
to claim top spot in the league, but promotion from second place will do
for me!!
After a hard battle Lions again
seemed to be carrying knocks, with Tim Collier and Eddie Saunders looking
decidedly worse for wear. However,
with no game next weekend, Lions have time to recover and look forward to
setting the record straight against Nottingham in two weeks time.
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