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This was a difficult game to
predict with the home side having been relegated from National 2 last
season, and Rugby Lion’s pre-season action not being too inspiring. In
the end it seemed the decision to send half the squad to play in Holland
backfired as it looked as though the team had not played together as a
unit and lacked any cohesion. Indeed the familiar looking backs line-up
played for much of the game as though they had met for the first time
five minutes before kick-off!
The Bees kicked off with a very
strong wind behind them and the early exchanges were fairly even.
Following the home side’s first visit to the Lion’s 22, their fly half
Rhodes chipped the ball to the undefended right wing position. The
winger Chalmers was clearly at least five metres in front of the ball
but ran on and touched the ball down. With everyone (including the home
supporters) waiting for the penalty for offside, the referee awarded the
try. Rhodes converted for a 7-0 lead.
After a scrum on the visitors
22, Sam Viggers and home flanker Barker became involved in a scuffle on
the floor. Both were shown a yellow card, but the penalty was awarded to
Bees. Rhodes, who had a superb game with the boot, converted for a 10-0
lead.
An injury to Wilf Barclay
following a high looking tackle meant that Danny Facer came on to join
the fray. Lions were being pinned in their own half by long kicks with
the following wind and their first up tackling was weak which gave the
home side the ascendancy. Rugby’s set piece was under pressure and
struggled to secure lineout ball against the Bee’s giant locks. Two more
long range penalties put the home side 16-0 up before an unconverted try
in the left corner completed the first half scoring.
Half Time: - Bradford & Bingley
21 Rugby Lions 0
With the strong wind behind them
in the second half, the Lion’s supporters were not too downhearted. A
good break from Dom Wareing gave James Hawken the chance to free Ade
Hales, but the pass went astray. Then a lucky bounce fell into the arms
of Bee’s centre Dixon, and more poor tackling allowed Kirkby to score
under the posts to make it 28-0. To make matters worse, the wind had
completely dropped. Jamie Tyers and Sam Overton then replaced Phil
Greenbury and Matt Price respectively.
After Lions were awarded a
penalty, Tommy Turner was hit with a late tackle (not for the first
time) by hooker Clunis. Although only five metres away, the referee
seemed oblivious to the offence. Luckily, the touch-judge did see it,
and the culprit was rightly given 10 minutes in the sin-bin.
After a ruck on half way, Goode
fed Ade Hales down the right flank, and although he was brought down
five metres short, he slipped the ball to Sean Brady to score in the
corner for Rugby’s first points. James Hawken hit the post with the
conversion attempt from the touchline. A penalty from half-way by Hawken
reduced the deficit to 28-8 but this was almost immediately cancelled
out by a penalty from Rhodes after Chris Murphy (who was on for the
injured Matt Goode) was penalised for not releasing when attempting to
run from Lion’s 22. Bee’s were then eventually penalised for diving
over, and Hawks made it 31-11.
Lions were enjoying their best
spell at this stage and a storming run from Rust again down the right
flank led to Sean Brady scoring in almost the exact spot as his first
try. Not the usual sort of tries you expect from a No8. Hawks converted
from near the touch-line to make the score 31-18
With five minutes to go, a nice
delayed pass from Turner allowed Murphy to charge for the line only to
be stopped 12 metres short. Bees were penalised at the resulting ruck.
The alert Sam Viggers took a quick tap and despite three opponents in
front of him he crashed over for an opportunist score. Hawks slotted the
conversion and a bonus point looked in the bag at 31-25 and the
possibility of an unlikely if undeserved victory if Rugby could score
again.
Lion’s hopes were dashed,
however in the last play of the match when more shoddy tackling allowed
Bee’s fullback Tafa to score under the posts and secure the four-try
bonus point for the home side. |
