Old Redcliffians 19: Tries: Dominic Sprague (8), Penalty (26), Jon Cook (39); Conversions: Archie Payne (8);
Leicester Lions 45: Tries: Will Ward (17). George Watkins (29), Dan Martin (35), Oli Taylor (50), Devon Constant (52, 73), Johnny Murdoch (55); Conversions: Luke Bouchier (17, 29, 50, 52, 55);

Following the disappointing home defeat two weeks ago to league leading Bristol club Dings Crusaders, Lions were keen to make amends and show their ability against another Bristol club, Old Redcliffians.
Old Reds started the game brightly and were first to score when centre Dominic Sprague went over for a try, converted by Archie Payne. Lions soon retaliated with second row Will Ward crashing over for a try and Luke Bouchier adding the extras, tying the score.
Old Reds soon re-established their lead when Lions conceded a penalty try. Lions came back almost immediately with winger George Watkins dashing over for a try, with Bouchier adding the conversion.
Lions then took the lead with their centre Dan Martin going over for an unconverted try, but just before the interval Old Reds levelled the score with centre Jon Cook going through for a try, taking the score to 19-19 at the break.
Plenty of action in the first half with a total of six tries.

Half Time: Old Redcliffians 19 (3 tries) Leicester Lions 19 (3 tries)

After ten minutes of the second half Lions had a purple patch when they outplayed Old Reds. In a five minute period they scored three tries. Firstly Lions hooker, Oli Taylor, drove his way over for a try, speedily followed tries by dynamic winger Devon Constant and then back row Johnny Murdoch finished off the hat trick. Bouchier added to Old Reds misery by adding all the conversions, taking the score to 19-40.
Lions completed the afternoon with Constant’s second try of the game in the last ten minutes.

Full Time: Old Redcliffians 19 (3 tries) Leicester Lions 45 (7 tries):

A keenly contested game between two well matched sides in the first half, but Lions went into overdrive after the break.

Seven tries to Lions and three to Old Reds, with Lions showing their class in the second half.

Gareth Collins, Lions Head Coach, commented: “We wanted to make sure we bounced back following the defeat to Dings so it was an important win today. As expected, Old Reds were really aggressive in the first half and we struggled to gain dominance. A lot of errors in the first half stopped us getting rewarded for the good things we did, but I was really happy with our second half performance. At 19-19 at half time we were in a tough spot going up the hill, against the conditions for the second half but the pack took control of the set piece and the backs exploited the space being created by that dominance.’’

Teams: 15-9, 1-8, Replacements:-

Old Redcliffians: Jack Curtis, Finn Murphy, Jon Cook, Dominic Sprague, Ezra Caven, Archie Payne, Will Luxford, Alex Harvey, Tom Ford, Ellis Joseph, Chris Persall, Pat Walton, Don Farmer, Sam Taylor, Mason Gill-Watkins
Replacements: Craig McGrath, Jalen Curry, Ethan Gaynor, Tom Fogerty, Sam Rees

Leicester Lions: Alex Wilcockson, George Watkins, Jamel Hamilton, Dan Martin, Devon Constant, Luke Bouchier, James Stubbs, Tom Williams, Oli Taylor, Isaac Thompson, Will Ward, Ollie Tapscott, Ethan Godefroy, Johnny Murdoch, Chester Owen
Replacements: Augy Clarke, Oli Crane, Simon Johnson, Zach Bean, Ben Young

Next week, on Saturday 22nd October, Leicester Lions are at home to Bournville, at Westleigh Park, Blaby, with a 2.00 pm kick off.

Other Leicestershire clubs results in National League 2 West are:- Newport (Salop) 22 Loughborough Students 24 and Hinckley 40 Stourbridge 24.
Following this weekend’s games the league positions are:- Dings Crusaders 1st 29 points, Leicester Lions 2nd 26 points, Hinckley 5th 22 points, Loughborough Students 7th 17 points and Old Redcliffians 9th 12 points.

On Saturday 22nd October the next local National League 2 West fixtures are:- Leicester Lions v Bournville, Loughborough Students v Luctonians and Exeter University v Hinckley.