With only 3 tries scored they failed to secure a bonus point so lost ground again to leaders Macclesfield who they face next up in a key home fixture on Nov 9th.

With both packs looking to impose themselves up front, the opening exchanges were won by the hosts when they forced a penalty in the Saxons’ half, centre Jon Boden’s kick bisecting the posts for a 3 point lead. The Saxons struck back though when winger Matt Farrington’s relentless kick chase isolated an opponent deep in his 22, forcing a penalty that Jamie Hearn slotted.

They continued to press their attacks into Leicester’s half but were frustrated by frequent blasts of the referee’s whistle. The pressure finally told though when the hosts fumbled from a Farrington kick into their 22, the ball was moved to Stefan Shillingford who drew several defenders before offloading an inside scoring pass to centre partner Ben Barkley.

Hearn converted and with the referee’s scrutiny switched to Lions’ misdemeanours the Saxons were quickly back into attack, a high tackle on scrum half Pete White kicked to the corner and flanker Nigel Mukarati the man in possession when a catch & drive routine was forced over the Leicester line.

The scrum came back under the officials’ scrutiny early in the 2nd half, with frequent penalty awards that both sides kicked for position in a sterile midfield stalemate. Finally a promising Saxons attack threatened Leicester’s left flank and their winger was yellow carded for a deliberate knock-on. The Saxons looked to press their numerical advantage but were again thwarted when penalised at an attacking scrum in Leicester’s 22. They responded by emptying the bench and pressed again, finally a Leicester clearance kick failed to find touch and they countered at pace, moving the ball right where a neat chip through by Shillingford was gathered by Farrington who scored wide out.

Leicester held on grimly in defence, thwarting further Saxons attacks including one controversially adjudged held up over the tryline. With the clock ticking down the Saxons kicked a penalty to the corner but the lineout throw was picked off, the opportunity lost and they were denied a bonus point.

Frustrated director of Rugby Neil Mitchell commented : ‘one of the most disjointed games of rugby I have ever experienced, one week the scrum goes well then another both sides get penalised off the park, the players are as confused by the lack of consistency as I am. Our defence was again excellent but we were operating too frequently as individuals in attack. My man of the match was Chris Depper, a young man who has come on leaps and bounds this season, his work rate was outstanding’.