The young Lions team smelt blood and took full advantage, running the ball at an underpowered Stour who succumbed to their first & biggest reversal since the 38-8 drubbing handed to them by Darlington Mowden Park last Nov 30th.

The hosts took advantage of the disruption to force flanker Drew Rudkin over from short range in the 9th minute. But despite the early substitutions and having to play upslope first half Stour then managed to put the hosts under pressure, firstly no.8 Chris Depper scoring from a short-range catch & drive & then forcing 2 yellow cards for cynical ‘red-zone’ defensive offences. With only 13 defenders Stour’s pack had the opposition backpedalling in the scrum and referee Callum Howard awarded a penalty try as they transgressed again. With Gareth Bown converting that left Stour a 7-12 lead but that was to be their high watermark in this game.

Flanker Eji Uzoigwe took a knock & was replaced by Drew Harper as Lions’ centre Jon Williams added a penalty kick to his earlier successful conversion, his 2nd successful penalty shortly after establishing 13-12 halftime lead for the hosts that looked a not insurmountable hurdle for Stour with slope advantage in the 2nd half.

With the Stour attack camped out in the hosts 22 but failing to penetrate the defences, front-row subs Adam Sturdy & Jordan Page were introduced 10min into the 2nd half to add fresh impetus. But the siege was lifted as the hosts turned over a ruck on their own line, wing Devon Constant broke free and ran the length of the pitch with barely a hand laid on him before feeding no.8 Rob Young for their 2nd try. The hosts’ tails were up, and play had barely restarted when - with debutant scrum half Alex Moy lying injured from a freak ankle injury – they attacked wide from deep, made big yardage in the space they found and Page was yellow carded for an offside offence. As Williams slotted the penalty to move the score on to 23-12 Dale Garner had to come back on and Depper answered the call to cover inside centre. The agony was compounded barely 2 minutes later when Steve Blackburn’s short bench rest was also interrupted as Mark George came off with a knock.

The Lions took full advantage of the man advantage and moved back to the Stour 22, a speculative wide chip from outside half Rory Lynn finding the grasp of Constant out wide to score again. He was to bag another 10min later but not before hooker Olly Taylor had scored the bonus point try with Page still waiting to go back on the pitch.

A late rally by Stour saw winger Jamie Hearn score a try wide out, but the damage had been done. Final score 42-17. A trip to A&E found Alex Moy’s injury to be a sprain rather than the initially-feared break, but he joins a long list of injuries that will cause Director of Rugby Neil Mitchell headaches as he prepares the squad for an away trip to Huddersfield on Sat 27th Sep.