The Lions claimed their first ever win in their first ever season in Midlands One with a hard-fought success at home to Melbourne. The 21-18 scoreline reflected the closeness of the match but this is one thing that can never be taken away.

The Lions, with yet more changes in the side and shorn of a number of injured players, took the lead early with an unconverted try by Ben Trinham after 5 minutes. By 20 minutes, however, Melbourne were ahead with a penalty followed by a try down the Lions left. A further penalty on the half hour gave the away side an 11-5 advantage. The last 10 minutes of the half belonged to the home side, however, with a Tom Mitchell penalty followed by a fine solo try by Fred Brookes after a turnover just outside the Melbourne 22. Brookes jinked his way past or through 3 tackles to score just to the right of the posts. A Mitchell conversion gave the Lions a 15-11 half-time lead.

The second half was tense throughout with periods of huge pressure from both sides. Despite this the first score of the half came 30 minutes in, another penalty from Mitchell making it 18-11 and seemingly only 10 minutes until full-time.

However, back came Melbourne. Poor tackling led to a converted try 2 minutes later which brought the scores level and it was nip and tuck thereafter. Another penalty converted by Mitchell seemed to have edged the Lions ahead, only for a huge final effort by Melbourne to take the game to the brink. Two yellow cards in the last period, constant pressure by the away side and 11 minutes of overtime contributed to huge amounts of stress for the watching Lions fans. Finally, the 13 men held on grimly and the home fans, players and coach celebrated as if they had won the league.

Tough encounters loom ahead for the Lions, but the fact they have moved up the table and have their first win after only 4 games will be a huge confidence boost. Another tough fixture next week at Moseley Oak.

Match Report by Jon Dews, Pictures by Sian Davies