Lions win in Brighton

This week's report courtesy of Doug Wright...

On a hot & fuzzy day down at Brighton Rugby Club, the Lions took on the might of the Sussex Police and it was hoped that they would still be recovering from the hangover of dealing with Brighton & Hove Albion’s loss to Crystal Palace, and with the former residents of Dale Farm on the adjoining football pitch, it was set for a good day.

The pre match prep was like a scene out of Police Academy with lateness from most players, following busy roads and no Traffic Cops to be seen (mmm, suspicious), resulting in a scrappy first few minutes. The Lions seemed to dominate the scrum from the start and provided some good ball for their speedy backs. With the first 5 minutes being played up front the first break came from a good scrum on the Lions 22m line with a fantastic break from the ever youthful scrumhalf Doug Wright, sliding through the centres like a rioter into Currys and then drawing the fullback to offload on the Polices’ 22m line to the supporting Christian Squire. The touchdown under the posts was duly converted by Errol to make it 7-0 after 7 minutes.

The rest of the first half then became a wrestle between the big burly coppers and the more youthful Lions pack. The Police managed to steal the Lions' ball on a number of ocassions wihout being reprimanded by the ref, and Horsham were charged on a number of occasions with silly misdemeanours . This should have provided the Police with good ball for the backs, however poor handling enabled the Lions to be let off the hook on a number of occasions. The Police finally got a result with a penalty in Horsham’s 22, though with nothing much to go on they opted for the posts and the score became 7-3 with half time called.

With the sun still beating down the second half kicked off, and whilst Horsham were still struggling at the scrum some good work between 8 & 9 enabled a better platform to provide the backs with good ball. The Police’s stop and search tactics were not working and resulted in a lineout in their 22. Quick ball released Errol, who danced round his opposite number and provide a SBW-type offload to allow Adam Bridgman to bundle through and trot under the post, which Errol again converted. 42min 14-3.

With the Police getting frustrated with the interrogation at every scrum from the usually quiet Simon Hopkins and with the ref having about as much control as Commandant Lassard, the police brutality continued. The Lions then threw caution to the wind and put the ball through their backs and started to lean on the Police. However, a rare attack from the Police’s flying squad, though not quite a Lethal Weapon, saw a kick through being charged down and Ali MacAloon kicking up field, and a well judged pick up resulted in a try under the posts with Errol converting. 55min 21-3.

Horsham now began to have a vice like grip on the game and the Police were to be held in their own half for the remainder of the game. 2 minutes later saw an almost perfect re-enactment of Gareth Edwards' try for the Barbarians against the All Blacks in 1973. Dazzling footwork from the Lions' ‘experienced’ duo of Errol & Sharkey, some may say the Tango & Cash of the Lions, allowed the young Sam Bell to saunter under the post and cap off an excellent performance at fullback. The resulting conversion attempt saw the obviously tired legs of Errol push the ball wide of the post. 57m 26-3.

With the game seemingly in the bag, a number of changes took place, seeing some youthful wingers take their position and somehow managing to be swamped by the supposedly tight fitting shirts. The biggest change came at scrum half with Doug Wright going off and preventing veteran Tim Smith from topping up on his tan, and seeing if he can still mix it up on the rugby park (the jury is still out on that one!) Having now scored four tries the Lions were still fighting up front with the Police, who continued to knock Horsham back with their heavy truncheons though never really looked like getting over the whitewash themselves. With the game nearing an end, Horsham made a break down the right hand side of the pitch with an overhead pass to the supporting Seth Wise, who was caught just short of the line but managed to offload, with Mark Ross then too lazy to pass and somehow managing to flop himself over the line. An excellent conversion attempt from Errol saw the ball fly across the ground, not quite managing to leap over the crossbar. 78min 31-3.

The last few minutes of the game the Police were still attempting to get something out of the Lions, however they weren’t to budge and kept clean. The ref finally halted proceedings and Lions receiving nothing more than a caution.

A good win from the Lions, who remain top of the league and now look forward to a top of the table clash with Barns Green at home next week.