The Lions went to Lichfield, relegated from Mids Premier, with a strong squad and a competitive pack featuring the return of Chris Depper to the rugby fold. That they ultimately left at the end of a 34-13 defeat to strong, though not outstanding opponents, was disappointing and they were definitely not 20 points better on the day.

However, what the home side did, in the second half, was take their chances, two of their tries coming from opportunist breakaways. In that respect they were more effective than the Lions, who tended to take the wrong option in attack or failed to keep the ball long enough to build sustained pressure.

The first half featured Lichfield playing downslope with both the wind and sun behind them. Most of the play for significant periods took place in the away half, but despite the pressure, the Lions coped well, winning most of the lineouts and putting on good pressure in the scrums. The discipline defensively was good enough for the Lions to turn round level at 3 points all, with good opportunity in the second half to make hay in the strong sunlight. Elliot Murphy was on the mark with the first half penalty and there were chances of further success throughout the half
Instead there seemed to be a collective amnesia about what brought them success in the first half. The Lions became more disorganised and their attacking play lacked direction. At the same time Lichfield upped their game and scored their first try soon after the restart, the conversion giving them a 10-3 lead.

Straight from the kick-off, however, a moment of individual brilliance from George Tildesley brought the Lions back into the game. Catching the restart he ran 40 metres and past 3 defenders to crash over wide on the Lions left. 10-8 and all to play for.

Having got almost level again, though, the Lions relaxed too much and were hit by two converted tries mid-way through the half that effectively ended their chances. Both tries were as the result of failures in concentration and were eminently defendable. At 24-8 down it was a long way back.

With both teams down to 14 men after a combined sin-binning for “handbags” the Lions did manage to conjure a second try. A great 40 metre run by prop Steff Thorpe, followed by a series of drives left Rich Pennock to go over down the right for an unconverted try and some hope. This was soon dashed however with a home penalty goal and then a 4th converted try.

There were many positives from the match. The defence in the first half was sound and there were a number of promising breaks, one of which almost led to a try. However, and especially in the second half, there was no direction, particularly in midfield, with the ball being given away too many time through aimless kicking and speculative passes. They should have learned from Lichfield’s pressing in the 1st half that to build pressure and win games you should keep hold of the ball.

by JON DEWS