Darlington Mowden Park 52 Leicester Lions 10

Darlington put on a strong performance from the outset, catching the excited Lions out in the first half which they never recovered from.
The game could not have stated much worse for the Lions when Darlington scored 26 unanswered points in 20 minutes through 4 tries, 3 of which were converted. The tries came from a combination of missed tackles by the lions and strong running from a powerful Park side.
The Lions finally got a grip on the game for the rest of the half but were unable to convert any pressure into points.
Half time score 26-0 to the home side.
Lions again held out the strong running DMP side and applied pressure, ending in a try for the Lions as John Williamson crashed over the line from short range helped by standout player on the day, Drew Rudkin.
Unfortunately Lions could not hold onto the ball to convert pressure to points and eventually the Lions defence gave out on 55 minutes. DMP ran in 3 tries in under 10 minutes, one of which was a penalty try, as the touch judge deemed the player was taken out without the ball 5 metres from the line during the scramble defence. Two conversions were successful. 45-5.
Lions are not a team to lie down and worked till the end. Defence held strong for the most part and Lions were finally rewarded with a try through prop Tom Williams.
As the final whistle was approaching Lions thought any onslaught was all over as a dominant scrum pushed the DMP pack off the ball but it became loose and the DMP’s quick thinking forwards managed to squeeze over for a final converted try.
Final score 52-10.
Unfortunately for the Lions, a few errors in attack and defence cost them this week and DMP took their opportunities. The Lions team did not give up and showed they played some good rugby competing for large parts of the game.
This week Leicester Lions play at home facing Hull RUFC with a 2pm kick off.