Saturday 7th January 2023

Newport (Salop) 32 (4 tries) Leicester Lions 38 (5 tries)

Half Time 22-35

Match Points: Newport 2 Leicester Lions 5

Newport 32: Tries: Perez Raqio (6, 47), Reece Beddows (21), Jacob Leonard (26); Conversions: Jacob Leonard (22, 26, 47); Penalties: Jacob Leonard (12, 55);
Leicester Lions 38: Tries: Oli Taylor (3), James Stubbs (14), George Watkins (29, 36), Devon Constant (39); Conversions: Ben Young (4, 15, 30, 37, 40); Penalties: Ben Young (50)

Lions find Newport tough opposition.

Lions travelled to Newport (Salop) RFC for their first ever visit to their ground. Lions had won the reverse fixture 48-19 at Westleigh Park in September, but Newport were adapting to rugby at National League 2 level.

Lions were fast out of the blocks with hooker Oli Taylor going over for a try, following driving play, converted by Ben Young. Newport quickly retaliated with a try by their hooker, Perez Raqio, soon followed by a Newport penalty by Jacob Leonard taking them into an 8-7 lead.

Lions came back with a nippy try by their scrum-half James Stubbs, with Young adding the extras.

Newport returned with two rapid tries by Reece Beddows and Leonard, with Leonard adding both conversions, taking them to a 22-14 lead.

Lions then had an electric patch in the ten minutes leading up to the break with tries by George Watkins (2) and Devon Constant, with Young adding all three conversions, taking the score to 22-35 at the interval.

Half Time: Newport 22 Leicester Lions 35

In the second half both sides continued their committed approaches.

On 47 minutes Newport showed their determination with a second try by Raqio, with Leonard adding the conversion taking the score to 29-35.

Lions and Newport added a penalty a piece to the score board by Young and Leonard respectively, taking the score to 32-38 on 55 minutes.

Newport took on Lions in the last 25 minutes of the game but were not able to break their way through Lions firm and well organised defence.

Full Time: Newport (Salop) 32 Leicester Lions 38

A keenly well contested game, with Lions taking a five point win, keeping them in contention, leading the table in National League 2 West.

Lions’ Head Coach, Gareth Collins, commented: “The first game after the Christmas break is always difficult, especially away from home, and our performance reflected the fact that we haven’t played for four weeks. We did a lot of good stuff, especially in the first half, but lacked our normal level of execution. Unfortunately our errors in very good attacking areas were punished directly by turnover scores for Newport (Salop). This kept them in the game and clearly gave them a lot of confidence. They then dictated much of the second half and easily could have won the game. However with momentum and pressure firmly against us, we showed a lot of character to work our way out of danger and in to an area where we could see the game out. We’ll need to be much better in the coming weeks but hopefully we will be better prepared with this game under our belts.”

Lions’ Chairman, Ken Whitehead, said: “Newport gave us a tough game and a testing afternoon after the Christmas/New Year break, especially as we also had two postponed fixtures in December due to the weather and the opposition not being able to raise a team.”

Teams: 15-9, 1-8, Replacements:-

Newport: Fred Bailey, Max Himbury, Chris Perry, Jacob Leonard, Reece Beddows, George Castledine, Connor Adams, Nathan Titchard-Jones, Perez Raqio, Kaid O’Neill, Matt Hubbart, Nick Murphy, Oliver Buckley, Josh Kent, Chris Taylor;
Replacements: Jack Wells, Rhys Morgan, Jordan Grass, Jake Goulson, Sam Brown;

Leicester Lions: Alex WilHuckleberryson, George Watkins, Dan Martin, Luke Bouchier, Devon Constant, Ben Young, James Stubbs, Tom Williams, Oli Taylor, Isaac Thompson, Ollie Tapscott, Ethan Godefroy, Simon Johnson, Johnny Murdoch, Nick Cairns;
Replacements: Aston Gradwick-Light, Shaun Murray, Will Ward, Drew Rudkin, Zach Bean;