Match report 27/1/24

The Lions match report

Match report
Richmond 20 Leicester Lions 21
The long range penalty kick from Luke Bouchier with time up on the clock gave the Lions a very hard earned victory against a strong Richmond side to make it three consecutive wins in National 1.
The Lions were first on the scoreboard following a scrum penalty converted by Dan Lewis but it was Richmond who raced in to a commanding lead with three tries in 15 minutes.
Their first came via a catch and drive following a kick to the corner having earned a high tackle penalty. The Richmond hooker Alex Post was on the end of the drive to claim his twelfth try of the season. Ted Landray’s conversion came back off the upright (5-3).
Richmond added a second try just six minutes later when the impressive full back Alex O’Meara kicked in to the Lions 22 and Jake Sterland failed to field the ball. From the scrum, Richmond moved the ball wide and centre Paddy Case went over in the corner. Again the tricky conversion was missed by Landray (10-3).
The home side added a third try just three minutes later when a box kick was dropped by Charlie Davies and a penalty followed for a tackler not rolling away. Richmond went to the corner again and although the Lions pack managed to halt the drive this time, scrum half Matt Marsh scooted down the blindside to score. It was third time lucky for Landry who kicked the conversion from the touchline for a commanding lead (17-3).
Since the first couple of minutes the Lions hadn't really been in the contest. A number of handling errors had handed both possession and territory to the former premiership club and they had taken full advantage. The one aspect of their game that was going well though was the scrum and it was from a series of scrum penalties that finally gave them a foothold. With the last play of the first half Simon Koroiyadi forced his way over despite having three would-be tacklers hanging off him and Lewis’ conversion left the half time score 17-10.
The second half had a very different feel about it, with the home side probably wondering how they hadn't put the game to bed, and the visitors with renewed vigour. The long awaited return of Aaron Dawson from injury helped keep the scrum pressure on and the Lions continued to win penalties in this area and eventually Ethan Benson was given a yellow card. The Lions scored from the next scrum when James Stubbs sniped from the base and put Jake Sterland away in the corner. (17-15). Lewis missed the difficult conversion.
Richmond managed the remainder of the time with 14 men without conceding but Lewis did give the Lions the lead (17-18) with a penalty kick on 62 minutes following a high tackle.
It looked as though Richmond had won the tie when, with only 5 minutes left, Landray put his side back in the lead (20-18) but the Lions earned another scrum penalty with time almost up which gave them one last chance. The Lions were looking for a way through on half way when a high tackle gave them the long range opportunity with time up on the clock. Despite plenty of jeers from the home crowd as he lined it up, Bouchier landed the 55 metre kick to give the the Lions a superb, albeit unexpected, victory.
Head coach Gareth Collins commented: ''Clearly we weren't at our best today, especially in the first half when we just made too many errors. Richmond are an excellent side and they were always going to punish us if we gave them that many opportunities to attack. The response from the boys was unbelievable though. Credit to the forwards especially - players and coaches - our scrum got us out of trouble today and gave us the platform to stay in the game. The result is harsh on Richmond but we've lost so many games this season having played well so it's kind of nice to experience it from the other side for once! What a way to win it as well. Boosh [Luke Bouchier] has shown a lot of bottle there so I'm delighted for him and rest of the team.''

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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: Online Points: 3797	Post Options Post Reply Quote tigerburnie Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Match report 27/1/24 Posted: 29 Jan 2024 at 14:09
	Richmond's view of the game, I wasn't there but I have watched the full game on youtube, have to say it was a well contested game by two sides who were well matched. Richmond were well on top in the first half in a lot of the game and more importantly the score board, but the second half saw Lions ferocious in holding Mond out and were shoving their pack around with some pace as well as ease, with Lions looking in command, but Mond heroically holding firm in defence. Match Report: Richmond 20 - 21 Leicester Lions : Richmond Men 1st XV (richmondfc.co.uk)

tigerburnie Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List World Cup Winner Joined: 10 Jun 2012 Location: Scotland Status: Online Points: 3797	Post Options Post Reply Quote tigerburnie Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 29 Jan 2024 at 17:29
	The Lions match report Match report Richmond 20 Leicester Lions 21 The long range penalty kick from Luke Bouchier with time up on the clock gave the Lions a very hard earned victory against a strong Richmond side to make it three consecutive wins in National 1. The Lions were first on the scoreboard following a scrum penalty converted by Dan Lewis but it was Richmond who raced in to a commanding lead with three tries in 15 minutes. Their first came via a catch and drive following a kick to the corner having earned a high tackle penalty. The Richmond hooker Alex Post was on the end of the drive to claim his twelfth try of the season. Ted Landray’s conversion came back off the upright (5-3). Richmond added a second try just six minutes later when the impressive full back Alex O’Meara kicked in to the Lions 22 and Jake Sterland failed to field the ball. From the scrum, Richmond moved the ball wide and centre Paddy Case went over in the corner. Again the tricky conversion was missed by Landray (10-3). The home side added a third try just three minutes later when a box kick was dropped by Charlie Davies and a penalty followed for a tackler not rolling away. Richmond went to the corner again and although the Lions pack managed to halt the drive this time, scrum half Matt Marsh scooted down the blindside to score. It was third time lucky for Landry who kicked the conversion from the touchline for a commanding lead (17-3). Since the first couple of minutes the Lions hadn't really been in the contest. A number of handling errors had handed both possession and territory to the former premiership club and they had taken full advantage. The one aspect of their game that was going well though was the scrum and it was from a series of scrum penalties that finally gave them a foothold. With the last play of the first half Simon Koroiyadi forced his way over despite having three would-be tacklers hanging off him and Lewis’ conversion left the half time score 17-10. The second half had a very different feel about it, with the home side probably wondering how they hadn't put the game to bed, and the visitors with renewed vigour. The long awaited return of Aaron Dawson from injury helped keep the scrum pressure on and the Lions continued to win penalties in this area and eventually Ethan Benson was given a yellow card. The Lions scored from the next scrum when James Stubbs sniped from the base and put Jake Sterland away in the corner. (17-15). Lewis missed the difficult conversion. Richmond managed the remainder of the time with 14 men without conceding but Lewis did give the Lions the lead (17-18) with a penalty kick on 62 minutes following a high tackle. It looked as though Richmond had won the tie when, with only 5 minutes left, Landray put his side back in the lead (20-18) but the Lions earned another scrum penalty with time almost up which gave them one last chance. The Lions were looking for a way through on half way when a high tackle gave them the long range opportunity with time up on the clock. Despite plenty of jeers from the home crowd as he lined it up, Bouchier landed the 55 metre kick to give the the Lions a superb, albeit unexpected, victory. Head coach Gareth Collins commented: ''Clearly we weren't at our best today, especially in the first half when we just made too many errors. Richmond are an excellent side and they were always going to punish us if we gave them that many opportunities to attack. The response from the boys was unbelievable though. Credit to the forwards especially - players and coaches - our scrum got us out of trouble today and gave us the platform to stay in the game. The result is harsh on Richmond but we've lost so many games this season having played well so it's kind of nice to experience it from the other side for once! What a way to win it as well. Boosh [Luke Bouchier] has shown a lot of bottle there so I'm delighted for him and rest of the team.''