Leicester Lions 17 Hull Ionians 0 - Saturday 15th December 2018 - Match Report

Leicester Lions 17 Hull Ionians 0

Saturday 15th December 2018

Leicester Lions lock out league leaders Hull Ionians for a fine victory

League Points: 4-0

Leicester Lions 17: Tries: Alex Wilcockson (23, 34), Curtis Weaver (59); Conversions: Harry Key (35);
Hull Ionians 0:

It was a dark, grey, cold, windy and wet afternoon, with rain for most of the game, for the fixture between league leaders Hull Ionians and Leicester Lions. Lions were in need of points to increase the gap between them and the league relegation zone. The conditions got wetter and colder as the game proceeded.
The game started with Lions having the wind behind them in the first half.
Both sides were testing each other’s defences with balanced play and both sides defending well.
As the game proceeded Ionians were having the better of the forwards’ tight play, but Lions were defending well. Each team’s defences were being probed and tested. In the first fifteen minutes of the game Ionians were dominating the possession.
As the first half proceeded Lions came back into the game. On 23 minutes they drove the play down towards the Ionians’ line, where Ionians made a badly executed attempt at a clearance kick, which was picked up by Lions who took the play back to Ionians, with a lovely cross field scything run by Alex Wilcockson who went over for a try, with Harry Key’s conversion attempt rebounding off the posts, for Lions to take a 5-0 lead.
Soon Lions were back up Ionians’ end of the pitch. Lions’ pressure from a lineout enabled a good forward take and drive, with the ball getting slipped out to Wilcockson who went over for his second try on 34 minutes, with Key adding the conversion and taking Lions into a 12-0 lead.

Half Time: Leicester Lions 12 Hull Ionians 0

In the second half Lions played into the wind and the increasing rain. As the game proceeded the forward exchanges became more balanced and Lions put together some good driving play. Again both sides defensive tackling was effective and kept the game competitive.
On 59 minutes Lions worked their way down the pitch towards Ionians’ line. Following some powerful driving forward play they went through the Ionians’ defence with prop Curtis Weaver powering his way over in the corner for Lions’ third try of the afternoon.
Again there was good defensive work by both sides and Ionians were unable to make a scoring response.

Final Score: Leicester Lions 17 Hull Ionians 0

Three well taken tries to Leicester Lions and good defensive work by them managed to stop Ionians opening their account.
A competitive game, with Leicester Lions producing some determined play and Ionians not giving them an easy time.

Lions’ head coach, Andy Key, said, “Leicester Lions played well, showing our defensive expertise. Our scrum struggled a bit in the first half, but as the game progressed they came much more into the action. Ionians did not make things easy for us. This shows what an open league National League 2 North is, with us showing our ability in the adverse weather conditions. It was good to open up a gap between us and the relegation zone.”

Leicester Lions are in thirteenth position in National League 2 North, with Hull Ionians still leading the table. Leicester Lions have now opened up a six point gap above local rivals, South Leicester, with South Leicester in the relegation zone.

Next week’s fixture of Lions at South Leicester looks like being a keenly contested local derby.

Teams – Order 15-9, 1-8, 16-20:-
Leicester Lions: Alex Wilcockson, Sam Benjamin, Jamel Hamilton, Harry Key, Devon Constant, Max Titchener, Alex Smit, Demo Gonsalves, Oli Taylor, Curtis Weaver, Ollie Tapscott, Ed Sumpter, Ethan Godefroy, Jonny Murdoch, Laurence Warren-West
Replacements: Ben Spokes, Will Roberts, Simon Johnson, Tom Aviss, Josh Leonard

Hull Ionians: Steven Slingsby, Sam Wilson, Lewis Manikin, Will Hardy, Toni Kuku, Tom Stephenson, Sam Crane, Ben Carlile, Ben Stephenson, Ben Bell, Joe Makin, James Stuart Newman, Ben Whyte, James Sanderson, Mark Wigham
Replacements: David Laverick, Adam Brown, Lewis Wilson, Morgan Bunting, Seremaia Turagabeci

For further details consult http://www.ncarugby.com