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It
was easy to see why Orrell only narrowly failed to beat league leaders
Rotherham and Premiership Northampton, as they continued their impressive
form to give Lions a lesson in fast flowing 15-man rugby.
Lions
had Alistair Newmarch deputising for the injured Matt Vines, whilst long
term injury absentees James Baker and Steve Smith returned to the fray.
Harvey Biljon, on loan from Wasps was at scrum half, and a new signing from
Saracens, Kieron Roche, made his debut at lock.
Kieron showed his skill at the first line-out to give Jon Boden the
opportunity to launch a bomb. Orrell’s Richard Welding not only took the
ball under pressure, but he also managed to release it to spark an attack
down the left flank through Lions’ disorganised defence. Several pairs of
hands and 70 metres later, Andy Craig was on hand to take Ben Lewitt’s
inside pass to cross by the posts. Phil Jones added the conversion. ( 0 –
7 ).
Worse
was to come as from the restart that man Andy Craig burst through some paper
thin midfield tackling to outpace the cover and cross in the corner. Phil
Jones missed the conversion from wide out. ( 0 – 12).
5
minutes gone and 2 tries conceded already, but Lions hit back swiftly. Phil
Jones fumbled a pass and was penalised when he held onto the ball in the
tackle as he tried to recover. Jon Boden despatched the kick to the corner,
and Kieron Roche took the all important line-out catch to set up the drive.
It was Tristan Prosser-Shaw who emerged from the maul to claim the try. Jon
Boden missed the conversion. ( 5 – 12 ).
Lions’ joy was short-lived, as a poor clearance kick gave Orrell the
opportunity to attack again. The ball was swung wide and wing Simon
Haughton hit the line at pace to burst through more weak tackling to dive
over in the corner. Phil Jones added an excellent touchline conversion. (
5 – 19 ).
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Lions’ almost responded immediately as Harvey Biljon’s clever kick saw James
Baker arrive at pace to hack the ball on to the try line. Unfortunately he
was deemed to knock the ball forward as he dived on it, and the deserved try
was denied. |
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Knock-on ?? |
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However, Lions maintained the pressure as a series of penalties gave them a
couple of attacking line-outs, but they could not find a way through a
stubborn Orrell defence. Orrell were awarded a scrum put in, but Rhys
Williams took the strike against the head to maintain the pressure. Orrell
were penalised……again, Lions kicked to the corner……again, and the line-out
take was good……again. As the ball was worked infield, Harvey Biljon’s dummy
opened up the gap for him to sprint over from 10 metres. This time Jon
Boden added the simple conversion. ( 12 – 19 ). |
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sells the dummy |
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....and scores |
Lions
were back in striking distance, but Orrell looked ominously dangerous every
time they had the ball, and another score was not long in coming. Their
hard running forwards were sucking Lions’ defenders in and opening up the
gaps wide out. An initial drive down the right saw the ball spun wide at
pace, and it was Phil Jones who was on hand to finish off another high-speed
move as he crossed in the left corner. This time his touchline conversion
flew wide. ( 12 – 24 ).
20
minutes gone, and already we had seen 6 tries!! Another was just missed as
Phil Jones grubber kick to the line was scrambled clear by James Baker.
Lions replaced Jon Roper with Stuart Potter, as another Lions’ penalty was
despatched to the corner by Jon Boden. The line-out was duly won, but the
ball was lost in midfield for an Orrell scrum. This time it was Orrell’s
turn to lose the ball as they moved it wide, and James Baker was on hand to
hack upfield. Orrell recovered and when Lions were penalised in the follow
up, Phil Jones punished them with a 50 metres kick. With half time fast
approaching, Orrell lay siege to Lions’ line, and it was no surprise as wave
after wave of attacks eventually made room for Phil Jones to crash over in
the clubhouse corner. The conversion was wide.
Half time
Lions 12 Orrell 29
Despite the incessant rain over the last few days, the pitch was holding up
remarkably well, but Lions emerged for the second half having changed into
their red jerseys. Lions replaced Ben Wheeler with Ben Smith and Orrell had
Phil Murphy on in place of Steve Moore.
As in
the first half, Orrell had a try on the board after just two minutes, and
what a try it was. From a line-out on half way, scrum half Steve So’oialo
dummied to create the gap, and shot through it at pace before chipping over
the last line of defence on the 22 metres line to win the race for the
touchdown. A superb individual effort. Phil Jones added the simple
conversion. Just the start that Lions didn’t want!! ( 12 – 36 ).
Another series of penalties to Lions saw Steve Smith held just short. Glen
Carson replaced Simon Black as Orrell cleared their lines with some driving
play that was helped by more poor Lions’ tackling.
More
changes followed as Richard List came on for the injured Phil Greenbury for
Lions, whilst Orrell brought off Richard Welding and Mark Lloyd who were
replaced by Matt Lacey and Wes Davies.
Again
Lions did themselves no favours as they surrendered possession, allowing
Orrell to sweep back downfield with a flowing move. Orrell were penalised
as they tried to capitalise on the position, but they stole the resultant
line-out to maintain the pressure. Another Lions’ penalty looked to bring
some respite, but Lions chose to run from defence. With Orrell nowhere near
10 metres back, the move was held, and Jon Boden’s attempted clearance was
charged down for Drew Hickey to fall on the ball for another soft try. Phil
Jones missed the conversion. ( 12 – 41 ).
Orrell made more changes with Martin O’Keefe, Kris Fullman and Paul Newton
joining the fray in place of Alistair Livesey, Steve Barretto, and Steve
So’oialo.
Steve
Smith was to the fore with some typical bullocking drives, but when Harvey
Biljon’s clearance was charged down, Orrell were on the attack once more. A
try looked to have been stopped by a high tackle, and Lions can count
themselves lucky that they got away with just a penalty. Lions survived the
next attack as Orrell were caught offside from a kick through by Phil
Jones.
More
replacements saw Jimmy Fornoni on for Tristan Prosser-Shaw for Lions, whilst
Orrell brought on Peter Ince for David Giles.
Another drive from Steve Smith, who was impressive on his return, saw Lions
surge into the Orrell 22, but a knock on put paid to a promising position.
Orrell soon relieved the pressure with another exhibition of hard, straight
running and excellent backing up. Another score should have come as they
stretched Lions, first to the right and then to the left, but on both
occasions overlaps were spurned and desperate Lions’ tackling prevented a
score.
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| Lions
gradually worked their way clear and were beginning to play with much more
purpose, with Ben Smith and Richard List to the fore. As the ball was moved
wide, the speedy James Baker cut inside for an excellent try by the posts.
Jon Boden missed the simple conversion. ( 17 – 41 ). There
was still time for Lions to score the all important fourth try to claim the
bonus point, but it was Orrell who showed the way with another display of
slick handling that put Andy Craig in for his hat-trick of tries. Phil
Jones touchline conversion was wide. ( 17 – 46 ).
Lions
made one last ditch effort as James Baker broke from defence. The support
was with him to continue the move, and it looked as though Lions would get
their just rewards, but the attack was forced into touch agonisingly short
of the line as the referee blew for full time |
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class act James Baker |
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try time |
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nearly the bonus point |
Final result:
Lions 17 Orrell 46
| Don's
musings
Make no mistake, Lions
were up against an excellent team tonight, but it was disappointing to
concede several soft tries through poor tackling and kicking, and even
more disappointing not to gain a bonus point.
There were some positives from the game. Both Harvey Biljon and Kieron
Roche enjoyed solid debuts. Harvey has a good, quick pass, and showed
some intelligent touches. Kieron was outstanding in the line-out,
although I look forward to a greater contribution around the park once
he has settled in. Steve Smith came through the 80 minutes with no ill
effects, and put in some excellent drives. Now he just needs to get
match fit. Both Ben Smith and Richard List made telling contributions
after their introductions in the second half.
So where do we go from here? Realistically we did not expect a win
against Orrell, but we do expect one against Otley…….and boy how we need
it. Last season’s corresponding fixture was an enormous game for us as
it staved off relegation with Eddie Saunders claiming his 100th
try. Let’s hope that the team can repeat the result. It’s a tall order
to avoid relegation…..I can see us getting a few wins under our belts,
but we are also reliant on Manchester continuing to lose games. Still,
as long as it is still mathematically possible, we can but hope.
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