Leicester Lions 14 Otley 30 - Saturday 2nd February 2019 - Match Report

Leicester Lions 14 Otley 30

Saturday 2nd February 2019

League Points: 0-5

Leicester Lions meet their match against slick Otley

Leicester Lions 14: Ollie Tapscott (65); Penalties: Max Titchener (15, 34, 45);

Otley 30: Tries: Adam Malthouse (8), Josh Hall (12), Ben Magee (70), Tom De Glanville (77); Conversions: Ben Smith (9, 13); Penalties: Ben Smith (42, 51);

It was a cold, but sunny afternoon, with a winter northerly wind blowing down the pitch, at TMDP Park, Blaby, for the visit of Otley. The playing surface was in good condition, in spite of overnight frost. As Lions have an open pitch, the sun had taken the overnight frost out of the ground, producing a good playing surface. This was one of only two games played in National League 2 North because of the adverse weather conditions.
Lions took the advantage of the breeze in the first half. Both sides competed well in the initial phases of the game. After 8 minutes Otley put Lions’ line under pressure with a clever deceptive run through the centre for Adam Malthouse to go through the centre for a try, with Ben Smith adding the conversion.
On 12 minutes Otley stole possession at a Lions’ lineout, smartly moved the ball out to the right wing for Josh Hall to make good use of the space, having a straightforward run-in to add their second try, with Smith adding the extras and taking the score to 0-14.
More or less straight from the restart Otley offended and Max Titchener scored a penalty for Lions.
Lions started to recover from the disappointing start and after 34 minutes Titchener added his second penalty to close the score to 6-14.

Half Time: Leicester Lions 6 Otley 14

On 42 minutes Lions were caught offside and Smith added to his conversions by scoring the penalty.
On 45 minutes Lions returned to the fray and produced a telling attack. Otley withstood the pressure for Lions to cross the try line, but conceded a penalty, which Titchener scored to close the gap to 9-17.
Lions conceded another penalty after 51 minutes, which was scored by Smith for Otley.
On 65 minutes Lions put some pressure on the Otley line with Ollie Tapscott powerfully driving over to open Lions’ try account and take the score to 14-20. It started to look like Lions were making enough of a recovery to come back into the game.
In the last ten minutes Otley started to show their class. Otley fullback, Ben Magee, collected a pass and an elusive curving run took him through the Lions’ defence to add Otley’s third try.
To complete the afternoon another enterprising attack by Otley on 77 minutes gave Tom De Glanville the opportunity to outsprint the Lions’ defence for their fourth try, taking the extra bonus point and completing the scoring at 14-30.

Full Time: Leicester Lions 14 Otley 30

A competitive game, with the Otley making an exciting start, Lions persistence producing something of a comeback in the mid-section of the game and then Otley’s skilful play in the last quarter giving them a well deserved victory. For Otley two tries at the start of the game and another two at the end.

Lions' head coach, Andy Key, says, "Otley made a good start to the game with two flowing tries. I felt that Lions applied themselves well in the middle section and closed the gap to six points. Otley did well in the last ten minutes of the game with another two well crafted tries, which gave them a deserved victory."
Following the game Leicester Lions were in twelfth position in the league table, although the four clubs above them are within four points, with Otley in fifth position position.

Teams: Order 15-9, 1-8, 16-20
Leicester Lions: Sam Benjamin, Laurence Warren-West, Jamel Hamilton, Max Titchener, Devon Constant, Josh Leonard, Alex Smit, Will Roberts, Oli Taylor, Dan Ali, Ollie Tapscott, Ethan Godefroy, Henri Lavin, Jonny Murdoch, Simon Johnson
Replacements: Ross Herbert, George Taylor-Walker, Demo Gonsalves, Ed Sumpter, Dan Martin

Otley: Ben Magee, Josh Hall, Tom De Glanville, Jack Mackie, Alex Beaumont, Ben Smith, Harry Skelton, William Rigg, Joe Graham, Jason Moss, Declan Dunn, Brett Mitchell, Adam Malthouse, James Dyson, William Burns
Replacements: Henry Watson, George Burkinshaw, Simon Willet, Jack Scott-Paul, Joe Rowntree

For further details consult www.ncarugby.com