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Lions looked to be suffering from a World Cup Final hangover as they
slumped to a heavy defeat against a Nottingham side that were simply that
much quicker in thought and deed. Nottingham scored 42 unanswered points
before Lions finally put together a flowing move in the final minute to
send Gareth Collins racing into the clubhouse corner.
With Steve Smith unavailable, the versatile Glen Carson moved to lock to
partner Tim Stannard, with Danny Facer coming into the back row.
Nottingham had familiar faces in their starting line up in the guise of
Paul Thompson and “Flapper” Underhill, with Rob Harding on the bench. It
was also brilliant to see Tom Woolrich at the game, still smiling and as
chirpy as ever.
Lions gave as good as they got in the opening session, but Nottingham were
in front after 7 minutes when the speedy Neil Starling pounced upon a chip
through from the impressive Neil Stenhouse, who also added the
conversion. (0 – 7 )
Lions had a couple of opportunities to put points on the board, but they
could not convert either. First a good break by Pete Roberts was carried
on by Sam Stoop, but the fly half was held up in the corner after evading
a couple of would-be tacklers. From the lineout, Jon Boden’s attempted
drop goal was well wide. Never mind Jon, even Jonny Wilkinson only
managed to get 1 from 4 in the Final……but the one he got was worth waiting
for!!
Then a penalty to Lions saw them kick to the corner. The lineout take was
good, but the drive was held by Nottingham and the chance was lost.
Apart from some elusive running from Spencer Brown in returning Nottingham
kicks, Lions were strangely ineffective both in the forwards and the
backs. Only Rhidian Booth made good ground, coming from deep and taking
the ball at pace to gain good yardage……but sadly that’s as far as it
went.
As
half time approached, Lions gave away 3 penalties in the space of 7
minutes, all of them converted by Neil Stenhouse.
Half time
Lions 0 Nottingham 16
Any
hopes of a Lions’ revival were quickly dashed as David Jackson fielded a
kick and set off on a mazy run infield. Neil Stenhouse breached the
defence with a well-timed run, and Warren Coles was on hand to take the
scoring pass. Neil Stenhouse inevitably added the conversion. ( 0 – 23
)
Lions had a good opportunity with a 10 metres scrum, but Nottingham stole
possession and cleared their lines. Play was soon taken into Lions’
territory, where Neil Starling raced through a static Lions’ defence to
score under the posts. Neil Stenhouse added the simple conversion. ( 0 –
30 )
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After Eddie Simkiss and Neil Stenhouse were yellow
carded for a bout of fisticuffs, Nottingham kicked the penalty to the
corner, and from a good Flapper catch, the pack drove hooker Joe
Duffey over in the corner. With Neil Stenhouse in the bin, David
Jackson took over the kicking duties, but his touchline conversion
attempt just slid wide. ( 0 – 35 )
5 minutes later
Nottingham repeated the exercise, driving flanker Mark Easter over in
the corner. This time David Jackson’s touchline conversion was a
beauty. ( – 42 )
With full time
approaching, Lions at last shook off their lethargy to drive deep into
Nottingham territory. A penalty to the corner, a good take, and a
flowing move along the backs created the space for Gareth Collins to
dive over in the Clubhouse corner. Jon Boden’s conversion attempt was
wide. |
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Gareth Collins could have added another on the stroke of full time as
Lions ran from their own line, and a delicate chip through saw the speedy
winger haring after it. However, it just wasn’t Lions’ afternoon as the
ball bounced agonisingly into touch.
Final result:
Lions 5 Nottingham 42
Don's musings
It
was a good job that England managed to bring the Web Ellis Trophy home in
the morning’s big event, otherwise the Lions’ clubhouse would have been a
very depressing place to be after another disappointing Lions’
performance.
Nottingham are a good mid-table side that will win more games than they
lose, but Lions should be capable of giving them more of a game than they
did. The whole side seems to have collectively gone off the boil. Again,
we only saw brief flashes of what the side is capable of, but the team has
to display this over a full 80 minutes period.
Judge and his coaches need to regroup and breath some fire into the
collective bellies if we are to survive in this league. The alarm bells
are not ringing just yet, but we must start to secure points to avoid
being in the drop zone at Christmas. A win against Moseley next week
would be more than welcome, but this is never an easy place to play. With
Moseley being just above us in the league on points difference, it could
be down to just who wants it most on the day. Let’s see some of that
Doncaster spirit returning and get back to winning ways. |
