Leicester Lions 17 Bury St Edmunds 0

Saturday 26th October 2019

Lions overcome inclement conditions for victory over Bury St Edmunds

Leicester Lions 17: Tries: Drew Rudkin (75), Ethan Godefroy (78); Conversions: Ben Young (76, 79); Penalties: Ben Young (65);

Bury St Edmunds 0;

League Points: 4-0

It was a wet afternoon for the first ever National League 2 South fixture between Leicester Lions and Bury St Edmunds. Continuous rain over the previous 16 hours had left the playing area covered in surface water.

Bury St Edmunds played with the advantage of the slope and the slight breeze in the first half. The wet conditions led to a tightly contested first half with little open running rugby. Bury St Edmunds had the better of the game in the first half putting Lions under pressure and driving close to going over the Lions' line on occasions. Stout defence and excellent tackling by Lions enabled them to keep Bury St Edmunds at bay.

Half Time: Leicester Lions 0 Bury St Edmunds 0

After the break Lions started to come back into the game, but Bury St Edmunds were still a competitive unit.

On 64 mins Lions got the scoreboard moving with a penalty scored by Ben Young.
The play was still evenly balanced with a typical wet winter forwards’ battle.
As the game progressed into the last ten minutes Lions application moved their play into the ascendancy and their driving pressure started to show on Bury St Edmunds.

Bury St Edmunds Ben Cooper was yellow carded for a technical offence on 73 mins.

In the last five minutes Lions’ endeavour and pressure produced powerful driving forward play tries for Drew Rudkin and Ethan Godefroy, both converted by Ben Young, to give Lions a deserved victory.

Following the game Leicester Lions were in sixth position in National League 2 South, with 6 wins and 2 defeats, and Bury St Edmunds were in ninth position. A most pleasing afternoon’s play and start to the season for Lions.

Lions head coach, Gareth Collins, said 'These were not the best condition for open flowing rugby. Bury St Edmunds gave us a good game and put us under pressure, especially in the first half. I was proud the way the team stuck to their task and took the upper hand towards the end of the game'.

Full Time: Leicester Lions 17 Bury St Edmunds 0

Teams – Order 15-9, 1-8, 16-20
Leicester Lions: Max Johnson, Kaz Henderson, Luke Veebel, Jamel Hamilton, Devon Constant, Ben Young, James Stubbs, James Whitcombe, George Taylor-Walker, Shaun Murray, Ollie Tapscott, Ed Sumpter, Simon Johnson, Jonny Murdoch, Nick Cairns
Replacements: Drew Rudkin, Rhod McNaughton, Ethan Godefroy, Will Ward, Alex Smit

Bury St Edmunds: Will Affleck, Shaquille Meyers, Alfie Garside, Tanner St Clare Lightfoot, Chris Lord, Kodie Drury-Hawkins, Jack Harvey, Toby Hill, Dan Walsh, Ben Cooper, George Grigg-Pettitt, Alessandro Leo, Tom Brown, Tomas Milosevic, Oliver Watson
Replacements: Matt Bursey, Robert Gardner, Patrick Robinson, Ciaran Leeson, Sebastiano Dusi