Match report 24/2/24

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   Leicester Lions 36 Sedgley Tigers 16
The Lions got back to winning ways with a bonus-point victory against a determined Sedgley Tigers side. Despite the heavy pitch the Lions scored 5 tries in a fine display of running rugby.
The home side were led out by Simon Johnson on his 150th appearance for the club but it was the visitors who started the better and won early territory through a series of long kicks from fly-half Warren Seals. After missing an earlier attempt, Sedgley were rewarded when Seals slotted a penalty kick for an early lead on 8 minutes (0-3).
The Lions dominated the remainder of the first half though and got their first try through a fine Fin Ogden break off a lineout play on 24 minutes. Dan Lewis converted (7-3).
This was quickly followed by a score from Johnny Murdoch when he broke from a driving maul close to the Sedgley line. Again Lewis converted to double the lead. (14-3).
Lewis completed a dominant first half with a penalty kick with the last play of the half to give the Lions a commanding 17-3 half time lead.
The home side picked up where they left off in the second half and man-of-the-match Jamel Hamilton crossed after only three minutes following a line break from Jake Sterland that involved some excellent interplay between the backs. Lewis was again successful with the extras (24-3).
Sterland then became the try scorer himself just 5 minutes later when he pounced on a loose ball to hack through and dot down out wide. Lewis missed his only conversion of the day. (29-3).
The Lions perhaps got a bit complacent and their ill-discipline gave the visitors some territory from which they scored on 54 minutes through prop Daniel Rylance. Seals converting successfully (29-10).
The Lions responded quickly though and more good play out wide was finished by full-back Joey Patrick on 60 minutes. Lewis was back on target with the conversion. (36-10)
To Sedgley's credit, despite the contest being over, they were the stronger side in the last quarter, and continued to apply pressure on the Lions line. The home side showed some excellent defence with some big hits from Hamilton, Charlie Myall and Malelili Satala, the latter pair both back from England "0's duty. The visitors finally got a deserved consolation score late on though when winger Will Bradley went over from a smart line close to the breakdown. Seals converted to end the scoring (36-17).
Head coach Gareth Collins commented: ''Off the back of two losses, it was really important we got a result today so I'm obviously delighted with the outcome. Some of our attack was excellent, especially on the edges, which is where we prepared to try and exploit Sedge, so I was really pleased with that. Credit to them though, they started and ended the contest the better side and didn't make anything easy for us. We knew they were a really physical side, and would challenge us in that respect, so again I was really pleased with how we coped in the contact areas. We'll enjoy the rest week now and look forward to giving everything we can in the last block of games.''

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tigerburnie Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List World Cup Winner Joined: 10 Jun 2012 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 3800	Post Options Post Reply Quote tigerburnie Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Match report 24/2/24 Posted: 25 Feb 2024 at 19:02
	Leicester Lions 36 Sedgley Tigers 16 The Lions got back to winning ways with a bonus-point victory against a determined Sedgley Tigers side. Despite the heavy pitch the Lions scored 5 tries in a fine display of running rugby. The home side were led out by Simon Johnson on his 150th appearance for the club but it was the visitors who started the better and won early territory through a series of long kicks from fly-half Warren Seals. After missing an earlier attempt, Sedgley were rewarded when Seals slotted a penalty kick for an early lead on 8 minutes (0-3). The Lions dominated the remainder of the first half though and got their first try through a fine Fin Ogden break off a lineout play on 24 minutes. Dan Lewis converted (7-3). This was quickly followed by a score from Johnny Murdoch when he broke from a driving maul close to the Sedgley line. Again Lewis converted to double the lead. (14-3). Lewis completed a dominant first half with a penalty kick with the last play of the half to give the Lions a commanding 17-3 half time lead. The home side picked up where they left off in the second half and man-of-the-match Jamel Hamilton crossed after only three minutes following a line break from Jake Sterland that involved some excellent interplay between the backs. Lewis was again successful with the extras (24-3). Sterland then became the try scorer himself just 5 minutes later when he pounced on a loose ball to hack through and dot down out wide. Lewis missed his only conversion of the day. (29-3). The Lions perhaps got a bit complacent and their ill-discipline gave the visitors some territory from which they scored on 54 minutes through prop Daniel Rylance. Seals converting successfully (29-10). The Lions responded quickly though and more good play out wide was finished by full-back Joey Patrick on 60 minutes. Lewis was back on target with the conversion. (36-10) To Sedgley's credit, despite the contest being over, they were the stronger side in the last quarter, and continued to apply pressure on the Lions line. The home side showed some excellent defence with some big hits from Hamilton, Charlie Myall and Malelili Satala, the latter pair both back from England "0's duty. The visitors finally got a deserved consolation score late on though when winger Will Bradley went over from a smart line close to the breakdown. Seals converted to end the scoring (36-17). Head coach Gareth Collins commented: ''Off the back of two losses, it was really important we got a result today so I'm obviously delighted with the outcome. Some of our attack was excellent, especially on the edges, which is where we prepared to try and exploit Sedge, so I was really pleased with that. Credit to them though, they started and ended the contest the better side and didn't make anything easy for us. We knew they were a really physical side, and would challenge us in that respect, so again I was really pleased with how we coped in the contact areas. We'll enjoy the rest week now and look forward to giving everything we can in the last block of games.''