Rugby Lions somewhat
surprisingly lost their unbeaten league record at Webb Ellis Road to a
very solid Preston Grasshoppers outfit. Lions began poorly with numerous
first up tackles being missed and after 35 minutes were trailing by
eighteen points to nil. They got back into the game with a try on the
stroke of half time, and came back strongly in the third quarter to take
the lead at 19-18, but Hoppers responded with two more tries to seal a
deserved win.
Preston opened the scoring in
the second minute with a penalty from Boshoff for an offence that
mystified. Indeed the Warwickshire RFU referee seemed determined not to
be accused of favouring the local side and he did a good job in that
respect. Some very poor defence from the home team allowed the visitors
to run in two simple tries from Viney and Barnett and Preston were
eighteen points to the good.
With half time approaching the
Lions at last exerted some pressure and won a penalty when Preston
killed the ball five metres from the try line. The kick to touch was
taken and the forwards drove over the line, but the ball was deemed to
be held up and a scrum was awarded. The ball was picked up from the base
of the scrum and again the pack drove over. This time the try was given
with Karl Braband claiming the score. James Hawken converted to give
Lions a glimmer of hope.
Half Time: - Rugby Lions 7
Preston 18
Matt Davies replaced Sam Overton
and Wilf Barclay came on for Nick Sharpe at half time. The Lions came
out firing on all cylinders in the second half and soon reduced the
arrears when Matt Davies scored following a series of sniping runs from
the backs. Matt Goode then charged down a clearance kick and headed for
the line. As he was tackled he spun the ball out to the unmarked Ade
Hales The pass was not the most accurate, reaching Ade at head height
and the ball was knocked on 5 metres from the try line.
The home pack kept the pressure
on and with the referee playing an advantage when Preston pulled down a
maul, the ball was spun down the line reaching Dominic Wareing who
crossed the line in the corner to put Lions into the lead at 19-18 after
51 minutes. The conversion from the touchline was missed. It was one-way
traffic at this stage and it looked as though the home team might sneak
the win. Preston had other ideas, however and began to gain some
possession for the first time in the half. After a series of phases came
a couple of crucial decisions, which put Preston, back in charge. Lions
were penalised at a ruck although the crowd were incensed that the ball
had not been released by the visitors. With advantage being played for a
considerable period, Preston eventually lost the ball and the referee
went back for the original penalty. Instead of going to where the
offence was committed, he gave the kick on the Lion’s 22-metre line, at
least twenty metres further forward. This enabled a simple kick to touch
to give the visitor’s a lineout 5 metres out. The throw-in was at least
a metre crooked but play was allowed to carry on and Crous claimed the
touchdown.
Soon after this the influential
Karl Braband had to leave the field with a knee injury to be replaced by
Tommy Turner and Rugby’s chances of the win seemed to have dissipated,
although the deficit was reduced with a penalty from Hawken when Preston
were finally penalised for offside. The restart was knocked on by the
Lions and the visitors eventually got the ball wide to wing Flynn who
barged his way through two tackles to score in the corner. The
conversion was missed to leave the score at 22-28 with 77 minutes on the
clock, although with considerable injury time left.
The lead was increased shortly after when Rugby were
ironically penalised for offside in front of the posts. Lions had the
last say in the game and at least salvaged two bonus points when Ade
Hales crossed over in the left corner for an unconverted try.
