LIONS TRIUMPH IN TOP TABLE CLASH

A hundred points, 14 tries, the game swinging one way and then back in a series of often fiery exchanges – the Lions kept their unbeaten league run going with a fantastic win at second-placed Camp Hill by 55-45.

This was a great performance by the league leaders against a very powerful pack and big, aggressive backs. The win was based on brilliant back play and a refusal to buckle against intense pressure, particularly by the pack in a crucial first half, where all stood up to be counted. It was rapier against sledgehammer and the rapier came out on top.

The Lions scored early and were never headed during the game, keeping the home outfit at bay. The first try by Will King came in the first minute, a mistake on halfway leading to a sweeping move from Cass Brookes and with support to let King over beneath the posts. The conversion was followed by a penalty converted by Ben Trinham and soon after by the first of George Tildesley’s hat-trick of tries. A shell-shocked Camp Hill saw themselves 18-0 down after just 15 minutes with a further Trinham penalty.

However, the home side aren’t where they are for nothing and they clawed their way back in with a try and conversion. No matter, the Lions responded with Tildesley’s second try following another breakout from defence by Max Fellows. After 30 minutes the Lions were 23-7 ahead and at that point looking to be out of sight.

Again the home 15 pressured the Lions defense and crossed for a try for 23-12, but the Lions responded with 2 tries, the first for King after yet another break, for the bonus points, converted by Trinham and then a scrum pick-up and 30 metre run by No 8 Scotty Langdon saw him outpace the defence into the corner for a lead of 35-12, only slightly compromised by Camp Hill’s third try on half-time, after Trinham became the victim of serial Lions offsides and was binned. 35-17 at the half.

That Camp Hill technically won the second half with 4 tries to 2 was academic; they had left themselves too much leeway to catch up. However, for a fair proportion of the second half it remained a keen contest, with the Lions losing a further player, King, to the bin early on. The remaining 13 men held on heroically but the pressure began to tell on an increasingly tiring defence.

The Lions set their stall out before that, however, with a backs move after 10 minutes leaving Tildesley ghosting down the right wing and under the posts for his 3rd try, the resulting conversion by Trinham leaving the away side 25 points up at 42-17. Soon after, a try and conversion by the home side brought them closer, but another penalty by Trinham kept the Lions tantalisingly ahead at 45-24.
Camp Hill were into their stride, however and a further converted try brought them to within 14 points. At this point a moment of brilliance confirmed that the Lions were going to run out winners bar the shouting when Ben Trinham, seeing nothing developing on either flank, dummied and then chipped his way through a static defence to put flanker Alex Jones through under the posts for a converted try. For this commentator, the moment of the match from arguably the man of the match.

Camp Hill didn’t buckle, as many sides would have done. With the home side 20 points or more down, they came again and scored 2 more converted tries, one right at the final whistle, but not enough for the losing bonus point. A Trinham penalty took the Lions to another half-century of points and 5 points clear in the table.

There are some tough fixtures left before Xmas, with Kidderminster and the dangerous Leek to come, but if the Lions can keep their nerve and avoid injuries there is no reason why the second half of the season should not be as successful as the first.

Jon Dews