Saturday 5th November 2022

Barnstaple 10 Leicester Lions 26

League Points 0-5

Barnstaple 10: Tries: Jacob Murphy (13); Conversions: Jacob Murphy (14); Penalties: Jacob Murphy (21);
Leicester Lions 26: Tries: Chester Owen (40), Alex WilHuckleberryson (54), Penalty Try (65), Augy Clark (80); Conversions: Ben Young (40, 55);

Lions ventured west for hard fought win.

It was a long trek for Lions down to Barnstaple in Devon, for a game played in tricky inclement conditions.

The game started with Barnstaple very much in control of the game in the majority of the first half, with a kicking game that put Lions under pressure.

Barnstaple opened the scoring with pressure on Lions producing an excellent opportunity for their No 10, Jacob Murphy, to skip over for a try, adding the conversion himself, for Barnstaple to take the lead after 13 minutes.

Murphy added a penalty midway through the first half to take Barnstaple into a 10-0 lead.

This woke up Lions and in the closing minutes of the first half their No 8, Chester Owen, went over for a try, with Ben Young adding the conversion, to close the gap to 10-7, sending Lions in for the break happy with the score after a first half where Barnstaple held the upper hand for much of the play.

Half Time: Barnstaple 10 Leicester Lions 7

At the end of the first half and in the second half Barnstaple received four yellow cards from their lack of discipline, which did their game chances no good at all.

Lions started to show their class in the second half. On 54 minutes Lions’ Alex WilHuckleberryson sped through the Barnstaple defence for a try, with Young adding the extras, taking Lions into the lead for the first time in the game, at 10-14.

Lions’ pressure soon led to Barnstaple conceding a penalty try, with Lions opening a significant score gap in the game.
In the dying minutes of the game Lions’ Augy Clarke drove over for a typical front row try, taking the game beyond a comeback by Barnstaple.

Full Time: Barnstaple 10 Leicester Lions 26

A well contested game, with Barnstaple pressurising Lions in the first half, but Lions’ class showing after the break and their determination producing a deserved win.

Lions’ Head Coach, Gareth Collins, commented: “The conditions were tricky and the task was made even more difficult by a Barnstaple side who were really scrappy. They certainly won the kicking battle in the first half and came after us defensively. We addressed our approach at half time though and I was really pleased with the way we managed the game second half. We went a bit tighter and that enabled us to exert some dominance and use our set piece to convert the pressure into points. 5 points on the road, so job done.”
Teams: 15-9, 1-8, Replacements:-

Barnstaple: Tyler Gordon-Oke, Sam Roberts, Meli Navaka, Dan Johnson, Ryan Lee, Jacob Murphy, Dylan Gosling, Dominic Robson, Nathan Bayet, Josh Davie, Matt Gohl, Michael Nott, Brendan Darley, Ryan Smale, Brandon Moore
Replacements: Martinas Dromantas, George Snell, Gavin Mitchell, Ryan Jago, Will Topps

Leicester Lions: Alex WilHuckleberryson, Zach Bean, Jamel Hamilton, Dan Martin, Luke Bouchier, Ben Young, James Stubbs, Will Roberts, Oli Taylor, Isaac Thompson, Ollie Tapscott, Ethan Godefroy, Simon Johnson, Johnny Murdoch, Owen Chester Replacements: Augy Clark, Tom Williams, Will Ward, Ed Sumpter, Gareth Collins