Rugby Lions began their return campaign to National 3
North with a convincing win over their visitors and securing 5 points in
the process scoring 5 excellent tries.
Lions welcomed back Toby Handley at scrum half,
partnered with Peter Glackin at stand-off.
Two other new boys, Ade Hales and Dominic Wareing
featured on the wings.
In very blustery conditions the home side played with
the wind at their backs in the first half.
The initial exchanges were fairly even although play
was mostly contested in the visitors half due to the conditions. Lions
tried running the ball at every opportunity but without breaking the
resolute defence by the visitors. With half time approaching and with
only nine points on the board thanks to three penalty kicks by full back
James Hawken, a lovely break by Glackin and an inside pass to Ade Hales
led to the winger registering his first try in Lions colours. Hawks
converted to make the half time score a little more comfortable. Even
so, with the strength of the wind many supporters felt that this lead
might not be enough.
Half Time:- Rugby Lions 16 Darlington Mowden Park 0
Soon after the restart, Ricky Hislop left the field
with a rib injury and was replaced by Sam Viggars. Lions were dominating
possession despite the difficulty with the line-outs and gaps were
beginning to appear in the visitor’s defence. Facing the gale meant that
the Lions were forced to run everything and this seemed to be working in
their favour.
A darting run by Toby in front of the shed and some
lovely interplay with Paul Thompson and Phil Greenbury was stopped just
short of the line and when DMP’s prop killed the ball from an offside
position it led an inevitable yellow card.
With a numerical advantage the home pack were
dominating and Tristan Wati appeared to cross the line for a try but
play was strangely bought back for a 5 metre scrum to the Lions. From
here a flowing backs move with Ade Hales joining the line led to a
lovely try in front of the clubhouse for Hawks. Not surprisingly the
conversion was blown way off course by the wind. Another back line move
led to Dominic Wareing receiving the ball on the wing although he
appeared to be outnumbered by defenders. However, he cleverly and
speedily weaved a way though to crash over for another excellent score
and try number three.
Some indiscipline was now creeping into the visitor’s
play and their number eight was fortunate to escape the bin after
excessive use of the boot. He did not learn however, and was duly
despatched a couple of minutes later for a repeat offence.
Lions kept up the pressure and secured the extra
4-try bonus point following a crunching tackle by Matt Goode. The ball
was spilled and collected by Sam Viggars to collect and race over for
the all important try.
Ade Hales then produced a storming cross-field run
from inside his own half to whet the appetite of the Lion’s supporters
of what is hopefully to come for the rest of the season.
