LIONS HUMBLED AT OLD SALTS

LIONS HUMBLED AT OLD SALTS

The Lions travelled to second-placed Old Saltleians with one of their strongest squads of the season so far but ended well beaten by a well drilled and fitter home side with possibly the best co-ordinated back line and the sharpest scrum-half in the league.
The Lions opened against a strong wind and found themselves 7 points down within 2 minutes, the ball being ripped from an un-supported Lions player and returned 40m for the opening try. Ten minutes later a break by the home 10 ended with a try close in for a 12-0 lead.

The Lions pulled themselves together and, with a dominant set scrum put huge pressure on the Salts for around 20 minutes, repelled by a combination of good tackling and persistent offside, evidenced by the 11-3 penalty count in the Lions’ favour and a sin-bin for a home lock. Despite this, and despite the referee’s seeming leniency in the home 22, where the Lions were camped for long periods, the half ended with a penalty goal for the home side, who led 15-0 at the break. No matter, the Lions had hope for the second half with the wind behind them and a stronger set scrum.

The second half was, however, a disaster, although the Lions did manage a converted try by Wilson. By then the match was long gone, with 29 points and 5 tries to a home outfit that were simply fitter, faster to the breakdown and more purposeful in attack. A usually good defence was at times torn to shreds and players who normally rarely miss tackles were being beaten or by-passed. Salts merely played disciplined, tough rugby and, crucially compared to the Lions, kept the ball and passed it out of contact. Theirs was an object lesson in playing rugby in difficult conditions against the wind.

No matter that Salts had beaten several other teams, including Kidderminster, Camp Hill and Moseley Oak, by large margins at home, this was the poorest half the Lions had played all season. Although Sam Robinson prodded and probed at stand-off, players were not running on to the ball at pace and putting doubt in the home defence. What was worrying was the lack of fitness compared to Salts, who were still running and tackling as much at the end as at kick-off. Other than Robinson the only players to come out of this match with any credit were Josh Cresswell in his debut at hooker and James Meakin at 8, who rarely missed a tackle.

With Shrewsbury the visitors next week after a big win at home to Stafford the Lions need to re-group and fight for every ball. We are now 5 points behind Shrews and 5th place and a big game is essential.

Jon Dews