B&S Report

There was a late change to the Lions side as influential skipper Matt Tuckey had to pull out with an injury allowing Joe Maksymiw to make his debut in the second row.

The first 5 minutes showed the Lions were really up for this local encounter, stepping up to the mark both in defence and attack and giving the feeling that this was going to be a good battle. It was the visitor though who got the first score. A well worked overlap on the wing sent Bee’s full back Lewis Roach through to score leaving the Lions 7 points down and bewildered.

The home side’s response to this speed bump was superb producing 4 good tries from all facets of the game. The Lions scrum was drawing penalties from its sheer dominance allowing them to play in the right areas of the field.

The first try came from danger man Devon Constant as the attacking Lions back split the defence open. Constant powered through to the line beating the full back with a one on one. It was the forward who were up next with the power house pack drawing a penalty try as the 5m scrum was pulled down just short of the try line.

New boy, Dave Williams bagged the third try for the Lions. He broke through the visitors line, stepped the last defender leaving the scrambling Bees in his wake as he touched down. The fourth and final try came on the stroke of half time following a strong driving maul from the forward pack. Rob Young made sure he got his name on the score sheet as he broke from the back of the maul, finding the space and crossing the visitors line for the bonus point try.

Half time score: 26-10 in the Lions favour.

The Lions struggled to get it right in the second half and could not get a grip of the game regardless of taking the first 3 points on 57 minutes.

Lions found themselves pinned in their own 22 for a prolonged amount of time, absorbing the Bees onslaught. Following a Lions successful penalty kick to put them 19 pints ahead the Bees finally found a hole in the Lions defence which had previously been so strong. Birmingham’s Rob Connolly touched down.

Sensational prop, Ben Spokes was rolled out from the bench on 54 minutes to add to the already dominant scrum. It was after only 10 minutes that he was dismissed from the park with a yellow card after taking a nap on the wrong side of a ruck. Lions now down to 14 men we made to defend even harder.

The home side were struggling to win their own lineout gifting Bees the ball. The visitor took full advantage of their building confidence and added a converted try through skipper Chris Goddard. A further Bees penalty kick left Lions with just a 4 point lead and 10 minutes to play.

The Lions work rate lifted up a gear as they defended like dogs but still struggled to make it out of their own 22. It was standout wingman, Luke Veebel who saved an almost certain Bees try as he raced from his wing to make the perfect body chop just two metres from the Lions try line. Hard work and the dog attitude paid off as the game closed out with no further score.
Our visitors leave with a well-deserved loosing bonus point. Full credit to Birmingham & Solihull who threw everything at the Lions in the second half and were a little unlucky not to have the run of the green.

Final Score Leicester Lions 29 Birmingham & Solihull 25.

Next week the Lions are on the road travelling to Caldy.

Report by Matt Tuckey