23rd February 2008 - Away v Old Northamptonians (34-14)

This Saturday’s outing was to take us out of the county for the first time in February, with a trip to Old Northamptonians attractive clubhouse and facilities. If the skipper’s US Marine style haircut wasn’t enough to convince anyone of his aggressive intent then the blazing row that he had with Togga’s new sat-nav on the way to the ground left nobody in any doubt that he was pumped up. The rest of us who used the skipper’s somewhat wayward directions took the time honoured route of asking a local –the same local it transpired, a rather long suffering woman who was trying to trim her hedge whilst dealing with three separate car loads of Lions.
We welcomed back some familiar faces – Gozzo, Jim Hutchison, Charlie Hillyer and Stan and the team took on a military bearing with the Colonel stepping in for Vanny. We heard those now familiar words from the opposition skipper “our third team game has been called off and so we’ve a few extra players who’d like a run out……” – such simple words borne out by what looked like a coach party assembling on the far touchline. Also worth a mention was the Old Northants prop who was sporting a very fetching pair of red boots, attire not normally seen at this level of rugby. The geography of the pitch was also noted, with a similar gradient to the old Wigston first team pitch and a width similar to the length of same.
With kick off, the Lions played down the slope in the first half. From the off the ONs showed a great mobility and a desire to pass the ball around – this feature was our saving grace for a while as we benefited from a few knock ons. The ONs also made good use of the wide pitch, spreading the ball from left to right and back again and stretching the Lions defence accordingly. Eventually the dam burst and redboots (who, despite the paunch turned out to be quite a nippy full back) cut through generations of the Nango family, junior then senior to record the first ON’s score – thankfully the conversion was missed.
The width of the pitch soon got to Togga with his groin struggling under the high mileage conditions – fortunately we had Cookie (Little) to replace him. The restart led to a further ON’s onslaught and some deft kicking for territory from ON’s led to the aforementioned Cookie having a Balshaw moment in the corner. The ON’s pressure told and they scored again, twice in quick succession – thankfully their place kickers struggled (cow’s arse with a banjo struggled) and the score was restricted to 15-0. The score at this stage could have been worse but Nango was able to put in a sleeping policeman (© Baz Tudge)on the swervy ON’s winger who leapt in fright, leading to the ref giving a penalty to us. The Lions then remembered what they were good at and some abrasive forward work from Stu Watson led to a turnover, then two good phases from the forwards which allowed the ball to come to the Colonel and some strong running let him score under the posts. Puggy got the conversion and so we went into the turnaround 15-7 down.

At the half time pep talk Togga succinctly pointed out our main problem - turnstile tackling. This clearly struck a chord with Stu Watson who early in the second half managed to clothes-line an ON’s player, eliciting a collective groan from the crowd. The Lions held their own for a while, aided by Buster picking the collective pockets of the ON’s scrumhalf and eight by booting the ball from the back of their scrum into open play. Sadly he returned to this well once too often, with the ref pinging him when he tried the same move two minutes later. ON’s kept the scoreboard ticking with a couple of scores, and they also managed to find a place-kicker who converted one of these. Nango also returned to a more traditional style of tackling and managed to hurt his hand for his troubles – certainly by 6.30 in the evening it was nastily swollen. The Lions managed to put together some concerted forward pressure and Andy Winsland put a score in beneath the posts. Charlie Hillyer was also on the end of a physical tackle and he was to play no further part in the match.
The last ten minutes saw some very mazy running from the ON’s, their winger evading 6 tackles and in the process covering around 150 metres with about 8 metres of territory gained in the process. The same Andy Winsland managed to tackle this winger, and then gave away a penalty by proceeding to have a lie down on him.
The final move of the game was worth a mention as the ON’s winger managed to score a great solo try which started in his own half with a Garryowen which he collected, evaded three Lions tackles and scored under the posts. The conversion led to the final score being 34-14.
Post match highlights included a bottle of port from the ON’s (thanks for that lads), Gozzo drinking sparkling mineral water (a first for a rugby club surely?), an old school stop off in Lutterworth and the most junior member of the team (Henry Cooke) managing to throw up all over the brand new clubhouse carpet, the latter incident allowing Gozzo to show his legendary turn of pace by running a mile from the epicentre.

16th February 2008 - Away v Hinckley (29-14)

It’s Saturday, so it must be Hinckley. For the second time in a still young 2008 we made the journey down the A47 to play the fourth team of the Leicester Road out fit. Lee Powell was welcomed back from a long term injury, Togga let the NHS run itself for the afternoon, after his no show at Stoneygate, Slim got out of bed to return to the front row and large Cookie returned, albeit with a bad back and thus picked up match reporting duties.
The Hinckley fourth team that we lined up against seemed broadly familiar to those of us who had played them in January. Slightly more ominous were the replacements lining up on the far touchline in a sight not witnessed since the BBC screened Zulu on Boxing Day. Given that the Hinckley bench outnumbered their support by a ratio of two to one and that the word was that their third team did not have a game, the men of Lions knew they would be in for a hard battle.

From the off, possession ball to’d and fro’d, with much commitment in evidence from both sets of forwards and a Laissez Faire attitude shown by the referee. Strong running from the Lions centres ensured the gain line was broken yet dogged resistance from Hinckley and some passing under pressure from Lions meant that we were not able to turn this into points. After around 15 minutes an ungentlemanly call of “forward pass” from Hinckley combined with the referee on the other pitch blowing his whistle meant that the Lions players stopped –Hinckley played on and scored the first try of the game with a conversion duly following. Lions did not allow their heads to go down and returned to the fray with renewed vigour and some Chabalesque dynamism from Tom Earnshaw.
A medical situation arose as Stu Watson requested that our resident first aider, Liam Powell, collect his inhaler from the changing room. Liam was not keen to leave the pitch side, fearful that a more glamorous injury might arise in his absence and thus he spent the next 15 minutes trying to get somebody else to retrieve the aforementioned inhaler. Having tried all of the touchline support, including a passing Hinckley resident who was walking his labrador, Liam admitted defeat and made the long walk back to the clubhouse. Other non playing highlights of the first half included the away support trebling, with Pete Sharp and Neil Hall turning up, Mr Hall flashing a very impressive new camera and thus making a strong statement in his quest to become official team photographer.
The first Lions score remained elusive and Hinckley this time employed their mobility (rather than their streetwise play) to get a second try, going into the second half 12-0 up. The turnaround heralded a still hung-over Daniel Quelch swapping with Buster, allowing the latter to practice the medieval pastime of gurning in an attempt to get his player profile picture updated. Some forthright talking in the huddle ensured that when the second half came there was no let up in intensity from the Lions.

Several new faces appeared on the Hinckley side, one of whom played on the right wing and made an immediate impression, firstly on Nango by upending him in an illegal spear tackle and secondly on a highly amused crowd as he took great offence when Nango called him a tw@t.
Some open field running from Hinckley allowed their blind side to cross the 22 and with just grass between him and the try line, Phil (SoN) made a heroic try saving tackle, which was reminiscent, for fans of David Attenborough, of a gazelle taking down a lion.
Andy Winsland risked his post operative knee and the accompanying wrath of Mrs Winsland by coming on for Matt Cunningham. Liam Powell and his medicine bag were again called into action as the recent substitute, Daniel Quelch lay stricken. Play was stopped for what looked like a potentially serious problem, fortunately it turned out to be Daniel’s signature injury, a slight displacement of the contact lens and play was allowed to resume.
The Lions machine finally started to click and some strong forward pressure allowed Vanny to register the first Lions try of the game which Puggy converted. Shortly thereafter Slim atoned for his absence of the previous week by registering a second try – Puggy again weaved his magic with the boot and, at 14-12, the game was on and the Lions’ support sensed an upset in the air.
Clearly the air travelled well as multiple Hinckley replacements occurred, leading to Hinckley’s revamped backline to now possess the Lions’ bete noir, youth and pace. Despite a manful struggle from the Lions, Hinckley scored three times in the last seven minutes to leave the final score at 29-14, a score which belied the equality of territory and possession during the game.
Subsequent chat in the Hinckley clubhouse majored on (i) the impressive size and strength in depth of the Hinckley 4th team squad (ii) excitement at the forthcoming trip to Hastings and (iii) a quite snazzy ensemble put together by Baz Tudge, with the maroon in his trousers rather nicely picking out the stripe in his jumper.

9th February 2008 - Away v Stoneygate (14-36)

As early as Wednesday it was becoming clear that raising a full squad for the recently arranged visit to Stoneygate could well be problematic. Big Cookie was child minding again, Togga had his commitments to the NHS, Stotty was also at work, Stu Watson was mascot for the first team (or was it his children?), Phil (SoN) was somewhere in South Yorkshire with his girlfriend celebrating her birthday and Big Matt had a black eye. This was on top of longer term injuries and other commitments. By Thursday, however, fifteen names were on the team list. This list included six backs and nine forwards, four of whom prefer to play prop, but fifteen players, that’s what matters.
On Saturday morning we still had fifteen players. A quick phone call to Jim revealed that there were no spares, so Buster and Wayne would have to do the full game. By 1.15 we were down to fourteen. Slim must have stayed in bed.
The journey to Scraptoft was quite nostalgic for some, particularly former Westleigh players and anyone who remembered Scraptoft College in the 70s! Memories are all that are left of the college since it is now a massive housing estate. How did they fit so many dwellings in?
We arrived at Stoneygate RFC, via an entrance that had previously been unknown, to see many of the lads assembled waiting for something to happen, apart from Rich A who was crashed out on the floor smoking his last fag before the game, much to the amusement of a couple of Stoneygate Ladies. After a protracted discussion Andy was led into making his long-awaited comeback. The decision was followed by a hunt for kit. Everything turned up, including a pair of contact lenses (-4.00) borrowed from the captain. Wayne, seeing this, decided he would like to borrow some too (-2.50). The captain duly obliged, now we had fifteen again and they could all see.
Eventually we reached the pitch and waited for ‘Gate to arrive. Normally, of course, the situation is the other way round, so we were a little miffed. They turned up eventually with one or two very fit looking players who certainly looked the part. Lions lost the toss and were to kick off.
Right from the kick off it was obvious that the Lions pack meant business. Within thirty seconds or so continued pressure , notably from Tom (Caveman) Earnshaw led to fumbles behind the Stoneygate line allowing Puggy to fall on the ball for the first score, which he duly converted. 0-7. Not many minutes later, however Lions were under pressure on their line, which led to the equalising score. 7-7. From then on Lions began to dominate. The forwards were winning plenty of ball and using it well. The Earnshaw partnership in the lineout was also bringing rewards. Indeed many were taken against the throw. A driving maul led to a score when a gap opened up and Buster took full advantage of it. Puggy added the extras. 7-14. Good play and superb following up by Dave Allison led to quick ball from a ruck, which allowed Puggy to put Nango into a gap for a further score. Should have been 7 more but the captain’s “legs went” as he seemed not to be bothered to go under the posts. 7-19 and halftime.
The second half started as the first had ended, with Lions dominant. Some good moves by the backs and hard work by the forwards meant Lions spent most of the time in ‘Gate territory. Again quick ball saw Lions with a three man overlap on the left. This could be a great score for Cookie (little) on the left wing. Could have been, if Tudgy hadn’t decided to kick superb ball high into the air and backwards to the right! Tudgy – don’t kick! Not long after the “Tudgy incident” a scuffle broke out deep into Stoneygate territory following a kick ahead. It was worth seeing the prop that went off at half time make his fastest and most strenuous effort of the day to run onto the pitch and push Dan in the back. The fracas fizzled out and the ref awarded the home side a penalty because Lions players had been trying to get the ball! Then came one of the highlights of the game. Andy’s comeback was complete after he found himself in a gap with the ball. He crossed the goal-line with ease, defenders nowhere near him. His skills shone through, carrying the ball in two hands and flanked by Dave and Vanny he convinced the remaining defenders he was about to pass. Great score, converted by Puggy. 7-26. Nango scored his second try after great work by the forwards and a break by Vanny who popped the ball up to his captain who scored in the corner. 7-31. This score was followed by a period of ‘Gate pressure. Twice they got close to scoring, but were thwarted by traditional and skilful last ditch tackling. On the third occasion, however, the tackles were missed and the centre broke through to score Stoneygate’s second try, which was converted. 14-31. The game ended with a fine try from Puggy, a second and deserved score, following the hard work and commitment from the Lions number ten. Final score 14-36. A fine win, which again brought back memories of younger days.

2nd February 2008 - Home v Cosby (31-13)

Playing their first home game since the beginning of December, the Lions squad arrived in the changing rooms with their usual alacrity only to discover that the opposition having made the short journey from Victory Park early, were out on the training pitch running through some moves.
Kick off was delayed as a search began for the ball pump and despite assurances that it was behind the bar it could not be found. Lions kicked off in to a strong wind and the low winter sun directly in their eyes with an especially soft ball. The eagled eyed referee noticed that the kick off was preceded by 6 of the Lions pack ably led by big Cookie had advanced in front of the kick so it was all back for a Cosby scrum. After the scrummaging lesson provided by Bedworth the week before the gathered spectators waited in anticipation, it appeared that lessons had be learnt and the much lighter Cosby pack capitulated.

The first scoring opportunity fell to the visitors when the Lions pack were penalised at a ruck inside the 22, Cosby elected to kick and slotted the ball through the uprights (0-3).
Buster had by now found the pump and as the players took a breather the match ball was pumped to a regulation pressure. The firmer ball brought a change in fortune with Stotty up quickly on the restart and dispossessing the catcher, quick ball from Stu Watson and then Vanny saw Puggy run at the centre of the Cosby line and an outrageous dummy saw the stranded defender diving at fresh air. The play was eventually stopped 5m out and several scrums followed in which the visitors struggled to hold on. A drive for the line saw Matt Cunningham suffer an injury to an eye and unable to continue, whilst Matt was attended to by the St John’s boys (one had a very fetching moustache) Sharpy raced on to the pitch to replace him. Another scrum close to the line and quick ball released across the back line saw Adrian Gyles, playing his first game of the season scoring in the corner, the difficult kick excellently converted by Puggy (7-3). After a further short break to attend to a Tom Earnshaw finger injury the game continued. Daniel finding himself in the open on his own 22 pinned back his ears and raced forward, in no time he was on the halfway line, cutting inside he was relieved of the ball and the Cosby playmaker then returned the play to the Lions 5m line.
The next play saw Cosby take clean lineout ball and drive for the line, the hooker breaking the line to score (7-8). With the half now about 45 minutes old and finely balanced it began to get away from the home side when a clearance kick failed to find touch and the Cosby wing raced for the line, whilst to all the players on the pitch it was clear the ball had been dropped on the line the referee in an act of charity blew for the score (7-13). The half ended after nearly an hours play with an altercation between Stotty and an opposing forward, some fisty cuffs broke out resulting in neither player returning for the second half.

With the wind now in Lions favour, the second half began well and the Lions constant problem of the line out was temporarily resolved with fast flat ball deliver to the Caveman by his brother. The clean ball was taken on by Vanny, who timed his pass perfectly to release Puggy to take it under the posts and convert (14-13). Cosby continued to work hard but had lost any cutting edge and the inevitable Lions tries followed. Togga made a solo charge down the far wing dancing over the line for a score despite the close attentions of three defenders (19-13). With 20 minutes remaining, Chris made way for Wayne in the front row, a well-deserved try for Tom followed, converted by Puggy (26-13) and the final score of the game went to Stu after good work again from Vanny (31-13). The only other moment of note was the attempted beach volleyball display by Tudgy at the restart and a dazzling run from Nango at fullback.
It is understood that Stotty and his opposite number made friends after the game sharing a bottle of shower gel and finally thanks and best wishes to Malc Wright who injured himself marking out the pitch prior to the game.

26th January 2008 - Away v Bedworth (49-5)

As Togga predicted last week, we were all out again (well nearly all). A squad of nineteen players assembled just off the A444 at Bedworth’s Rectory Fields home feeling a little more optimistic than last week. Vanny was at home ironing curtains and Puggy still had problems with his leg, but we had the long overdue return of Dan Burke to rugby, who was now making his debut for the Vets. We started to get changed as usual about 25 minutes before the kick off, gaining some reassurance that the opposition appeared to be no more ready than we were. The growing confidence was dashed a little, however when we later saw them going through some lineouts and back moves in preparation. Still, they were not a young team like last week and we had Shane who can run a bit. After the traditional negotiation about length of half and winning the toss, Nango decided to play the first half with the wind, though ever-so-slightly uphill. It didn’t take long to realise that what Bedworth may have lacked in youth, they made up for in size and scrummaging power. This was the overwhelming factor that led to a 49-5 loss. Bedworth had most of the possession, taking some balls against the head, and scoring three push-over tries. Lions gained some ball, but without experienced centres, struggled to make the most of it. Losing Buster after a few minutes didn’t help. Bedworth went on to score nine tries in all, including a couple when they spread the ball wide, despite last ditched tackling by the now experienced Lions defenders. A lacklustre performance by the away team did have the odd highlight; a good move down the backs saw Phil (SoN) put Shane in for a try in the left corner. The sole Lions try nearly wasn’t, however. Our guest winger must have had DQ’s contact lenses in since he dived over the 5m line. Somehow he managed to slide, roll and reach out to score without the ref deeming a second movement had been made. All-in-all this was another game best forgotten. There was the minor consolation of two jugs of beer bought for us by a Bedworth member who had particularly enjoyed the game. “Best game down here this season” we were told. Either he was trying to make us feel better or there is a dearth of excitement in this part of Warwickshire! And finally, as Trevor McDonald would say, what have we done to upset Malc Wright?

19th January 2008 - Away v Broadstreet (67-14)

Having thrown it down all week, very similar to last week we were all waiting for the call to say the game was off. When this didn’t come perhaps then we should have known that this wasn’t going to be an afternoon to remember. We were due to play their 3rds or lowest side but ended up playing the 2nds we had our suspicions, which were later, confirmed by the barmaid’s cleaning ladies cousin, a most reliable source. That it was indeed the 2nd team we were up against.
However Nango had managed to amass a squad of 20 with Austin (rocky) Watts making a guest appearance. Skidders was recalled from his loan spell at Derby to boost our lineout options and Tudgy boiler safely fitted was back as well. Puggy (hamstring) not able to make the trip this week.
We hadn’t realised who we were playing as we took the field, we were still in a relatively jovial mood still not believing we were going to be playing the team of young bucks running through their drills with great intensity for the last 30 minutes on another pitch.

Vanny got the game under way, Broadstreet immediately showed us what we were going to be up against all afternoon as they returned the ball with interest, breaking a few tackles then showing great pace and support play, they almost breached our line from the off. We managed on this occasion to find a bit of territory on the 10-metre line. It was only really a matter of time before they opened the scoring and with a pretty decisive break from half way they exploited an overlap and opened their account. The second try following shortly after, from a poor restart from Vanny (he was to improve as the game went on) they broke from the resulting scrum and again found gaps and support to make it 12-0. At this point 12 points down conceding 15-20 years a man we needed a cunning plan. Keep it in the forwards and give it to Austin was about as cunning as it got; however it did reap some reward. Austin breaking off the scrum to finally get into their half. Things then got even better when with a bit of further pressure we managed to score with what is becoming our most effective method the catch and drive. Austin popping up everywhere claimed the try, followed by an excellent conversion from Vanny 12-7 the score looked respectable.
Buster had to leave injured (right calf) Replacement little Cooky nowhere to be found Steve Cooke (big cooky) striped off his tracksuit ready to take his place on the wing, before a sheepish looking figure emerged from the bushes having laid down his scent ready for action. Having got back in the game we were soon to fall a further couple of tries behind. Just unable to get near their quick men. We then were again able to mount a couple of attacks, Slim being upended inches short after a drive. Our second try came during this pressure when from a ruck the ball came out to Togga who found Dave Allison on the inside, he made good ground then as he was tackled the Broadstreet defender scooped the ball back through his legs to no one in particular, following up were Chris Johnson and Tudgy who exerted a bit of pressure, Tudgy got a foot to the ball Chris found himself two metres from the line with the ball at his feet and made no mistake for his first score in a couple of years. So at half time the score was only 24-14 mainly down to poor finishing by Broadstreet.
With reinforcements to bring on perhaps we had a chance to remain in the game. On came the big men Matt, Cooky and the Caveman. An early score from Broadstreet stretched their lead. Then about twenty minutes into the second half the game turned. The Broadstreet open side decided to take a swing at Austin at a maul, Austin who is more the Old Testament “eye for an eye” fellow, than “turn the other cheek” duly responded. He also openly explained his decision to the oppo in what I thought was quite a reasonable manor. The open side clearly not the brightest spark wouldn’t let things go, the fact that he was 8 inches shorter and giving away a few stone hadn’t occurred to him. In the ensuing melee he came off much the worse. When a fragile peace broke out and the ref called them over he had another go Austin this time turning the other cheek. A red card for the open side and yellow for Austin.
Unfortunately this galvanised Broadstreet into action and the floodgates opened a little. From the restarts the number 4 ran through us knocking the forwards aside like skittles, only a last ditch tackle from Vanny stopping him going all the way on one such run, given that Vanny was finding him with unerring accuracy from these restarts it was only right he should clear up the mess. Desperate defending was the order for the rest of the match, with the final try count being 11-5. (67-14).
Not being equipped to take on a Midland one-second team we took consolation in the warm showers and after match cuppa a rarity these days. We shall no doubt all be out again next week whatever fixture Malc has found for us, such is the dedication to the cause.
As a footnote we shall be sending Skidders back to Derby he did throw the ball in straight but alas straight to them.

12th January 2008 - Away v Hinckley (5-14)
After the torrential rain of the previous evening the Lions fully expected their trip to Hinckley’s Leicester Road home to be cancelled however despite the water logged pitch the game was on. Nango had managed to gather a big squad, and it included a surprise guest in the form of hooker Stan, most welcome in the absence of Tudge & Skidders (Lord Lucan).
With the bright mid winter sun directly in their eyes, Lions prepared to receive the kick off and the travelling Lions support held their collective breath in anticipation of the feast of rugby ahead. The early exchanges saw the Lions backs make some incisive breaks and Nango narrowly missed out on a score when Vanny bursting down the right wing released his captain with the line at his mercy only to be dragged down 5m short by a desperate Hinckley defender. The first lineout of the half followed shortly after and it was a first opportunity to see what impact the new hooker and new jumper (Dave) would make – not straight, despite this setback things continued to be encouraging. With the pack dominant in the scrum and confident running in the back division, the inevitable score was to follow. Strong running by Phil (SoN) down the right wing and quick hands from the centres saw the ball safely in the hands on Daniel, who, after brushing aside attempted tackles, scored in the corner (adequate retort for his sin binning the previous week), a sweetly struck conversion from Puggy saw a well deserved 0-7 lead. Hinckley responded well and for the first time in the game retained some possession and territory. The eventual Hinckley score followed a frantic slap down from Stotty at the lineout which was pounced upon by the Hinckley back row and despite some good defending the line was broken, 5-7 and worse still a hamstring pull and a blood injury saw Puggy & Rich leave the play to be replaced by Stu Watson & Tom Earnshaw (looking more like a caveman each week). The next scoring opportunity fell to Lions, a penalty close to the Hinckley 22 (the referee had finally noticed the Hinckley backs continual offside tactics), electing to kick, Vanny missed narrowly. As the half continued Stan began to hit his jumpers with unerring regularity, the line out became a platform for attack, a luxury not previously experienced. Hinckley came close to a score when their backs managed to find gaps in midfield and only a ball dropped on the line saved Lions from falling behind. The 5m scrum that followed saw Buster’s pass force Vanny out of play and the scrum was reversed, Lions defended well and Stotty cleared a loose ball to safety to relieve the pressure. With Rich’s blood injury now attended to, he returned to the action in the back row and the half ended without further incident.

As the sun fell below the horizon and the temperatures dropped, the second half began with Nango bringing on his bench. The kick off ably taken by Sharpy and delivered up field by a healthy Vanny boot, Daniel ever alert chased up the kick and having marked it up set about tying his bootlaces only to see Hinckley opportunistically take a quick throw over his now kneeling frame. His injudiciousness was quickly atoned for with a great try, the big clumsy wing charging directly thorough the heart of the Hinckley defence to score close to the posts allowing Vanny the easiest of conversions 5-14. Half way through the second half and the home side had the Lions pinned on their own line and as the penalty count mounted it looked almost certain the referee would reach for a card or worse as Lions tried to prevent quick release of the ball. The pressure was eventually relieved when a knock on brought about a Lions scrum, the pack then drove the ball forward, with Stu Watson releasing Togga, who raced in to the opposition half supplying ball to Daniel, aware of the possibilities of a hat trick he elected to cut inside rather than take the unopposed route to the line and was stopped short. The pack recycled ball close to the Hinckley line and both Tom Earnshaw & Rob Haylock drove for the score but failed to get the ball down. The referee indicated a Lions penalty and the pack elected to scrummage rather than take the offer of easy points from the boot. The resultant srum ball was then taken against the head by the Hinckley pack. The respite was short lived for Hinckley as Lions again attacked the line, a quick penalty saw Stan drive forward setting up a ruck, quick ball was fizzed through the centres to James Earnshaw, who, marooned on the far opposite wing, needed only to catch the ball and fall over the line for the score, fumbled the ball and in the process injured himself to be replaced by Cookie who had previosuly retired from the game at half time. The last 5 minutes of the game saw Hinckley resurgent and attacking the Lions line, the situation only relieved when Nango, cornered in his own 22, managed a dazzling slalom run which saw him evade 4 tacklers. The whistle followed shortly after and a win more comfortable than the score might suggest was recorded.

5th January 2008 - Away v Market Harborough (24-10)
A happy new year to readers of the Vets pages, I believe we are reaching a number of former players who will be glad, no doubt, to see that nothing changes.
So to Market Harborough for the first fixture of 2008 I would like to say we met with a renewed vigour and optimism that the New Year brings but of course that would be lying. We were able to welcome back a few of the long term injured and infirm and actually had a squad of 19 to call upon. The early mutterings were about playing their 2nd team especially as we were sharing a changing room with Kettering 4ths and there were a number of sideways glances thinking we had the wrong fixture as they were even older than us. Nango decided to put himself on the bench so he could master mind the impact substitutions and off loaded the captaincy to Buster who duly tried to delegate it away as well. (No sign of Powelly who enjoys the responsibility).
So onto the game, we took the field with a general gloom that would have made Mick Carter* in his pomp look optimistic. From the kick off they caught the ball broke a couple of tackles finally taking Dave Allison to stop the initial surge. They then released their backs and showing a bit of pace created the overlap which only last gasp defending from Stu Watson and a forward pass thankfully spotted by the ref stopped us being behind in the first minute. From the resulting scrum Buster managed to find touch on the 10-metre line. Harborough buoyed by the early break kept possession ran us across the field and back and with us scattered and out of position their centre found a route through to the line. (7-0). A mini inquest about how to defend pace ensued, the fact that after 5 minutes we couldn’t all make it behind the posts for the conversion things weren’t looking good. We rallied a bit and although not making any real inroads we were showing our usual good control in the scrum. The lineout proving to be a lottery for us, with no established jumpers to call on. Harborough added a second try after about 15minutes when from a lineout the fly half fed back inside to their prop who had built up a head of steam and picked a good line between two defenders to score (14-0).

It was at this point that we finally woke up and started to compete, some strong ball carrying from Vanny and half breaks from Puggy gave us a bit of field position and continued spoiling work from Dave Allison and Phil Wright gave them something to think about. It was from such good work that the next try came. Phil Wright stealing the ball in the loose the resulting quick ball fed down the line Little Cookie stepping back inside meet their defence who turned over the ball and again with us strewn about the pitch this time the other centre found a clear run to our line from his own 22 disappointing. (19-0). The rest of the half belonged to us and only some last ditch defending stopped Vanny opening our account. Camped in their 22 we then managed to win a lineout miraculous in itself, but to then get a drive on and start trundling to the line with a purpose was even more pleasing Phil Wright doing just enough to get the ball down for the try. (19-5).
Into half time with our tails up. On came Dan thumb recovered to take his place on the wing Nango still holding himself back for the big impact. A stern talking followed by Puggy, with general agreement that our pre match gloom had accounted for us being behind.
Unfortunately the second half didn’t start well. A poor clearance from the kick off, allowing them into our 22 and their other prop managing to find his way to the line despite desperate defending. (24-5) Not down heartened we planned our next lineout whilst behind the posts for the missed conversion. Big Cookie Sharpy and Nango came on was this to be the tactical masterstroke.
A few minutes later we duly won a lineout on the 22 the pre planning paid off handsomely. With a little lob ball to Phil Wright we once again gathered for the drive, nothing happened initially then we slowly started to inch forward then got quicker and quicker and were charging towards the line so quick that Cookie (Steve/Big) ended up flat on his arse. The only doubt was whether we would drive too far but safely over the line Phil Wright touched down for his second try. (24-10).

Back in the game we strove forward unable to covert any pressure into more points. Then came, the Tudgy incident. Anyone reading who knows Tudgy will agree he has his own style and way of doing things. Finding himself being confronted with a big back row forward running at him at full pace, Tudgy rolled into a ball, fell to the ground and morphed himself into a sleeping policeman. This worked perfectly the back rower unsure what to do took the morphed Tudgy at pace and crumpled to the ground. It was more than worth the conceded penalty. The rest of the half was to and fro with few opportunities for either side. Apart from a clear Harborough break on their left with only Dan to beat. Rounding Dan it looked like we would go further behind. Dan had other ideas, and a perfectly timed somewhat cynical sliding tackle football style brought him crumpling to the ground. Amazingly Dan thought he would get away with it, but the ref called myself (Togga) standing in as skipper (off loaded again) and Dan across it looked curtains, but Dan clearly knowing some dark secret about the ref got away with just a yellow card. The rest of the game passed without further incident.
A 24-10 defeat was disappointing but not disastrous and special mentions go to Phil Wright and Dave Allison who worked tirelessly turning ball over and tackling throughout.

*Only joking Mick

15th December 2007 - Away v Old Newtonians (0-19)

Despite freezing temperatures, Lions visit to Old Newts was to prove a more enjoyable experience than the visit early in the season.
With Puggy & Togga electing to complete their Christmas shopping & Quelch having a manicure the backs had an unfamiliar line up, with Stu Watson & Phil SoN in the centres, Dave Allison & Little Cookie on the wings.

Newts, missing a prop ensured scrummage would be unopposed and the Lions numerical advantage determined the pattern for the game with the play almost exclusively in the Newts half despite having the wind at their backs. There was very little for the assembled faithful to cheer as promising field position was continually lost through indiscipline and poor handling. The only encouragement for the travelling support was the ease in which the Lions broke tackles, Tom Earnshaw, Nango Phil SoN & Young Cookie all making good yardage. Whilst the first score of the game did bring a ripple of applause – a drive from the pack in which Tom Earnshaw was forced to ground the ball about 3 times before it was noticed by the referee, the highlight of the half was the soccer skills displayed by Vanny as he dribbled the ball from Lions 22 to Newts 5 metre line – tight control that would not have looked out of place at the Walker Stadium.
The only other event of note during the half was a contact lense injury for Rich Alex.
Those who were present will not hold the memory of this half of rugby for very long.
The second half began with Rob Haylock replacing Sharpy and Lions playing up the hill. Newts surprised to have turned around at only 0-5 down raised their game with the No8 picking up at the base of the scrum at every opportunity. Lions now forced to defend for long periods produced some peculiar defensive tactics, including successive grubba kicks from Vanny, later explained in the Clubhouse as miss kicks, that delivered the ball directly to the oncoming Newts backs. On the second of such kicks the try only prevented by the quick reactions of Dave Allison who managed to put boot to ball and despite the attentions of a Newts forward was able to chase up his kick and tackle the catcher.
It was 15 minutes in to the second half before Lions responded with good running from Stu, Nango & Vanny and it was a Vanny break that eventually led to Lions second score. Running directly up the centre of the pitch Vanny was able to ship the ball to Tom who had stayed in close support and was able to place the ball directly beneath the posts, conversion majestically stroked over by Buster 0-12. A third try followed in quick succession when Phil SoN was alert enough to intercept a loose Newts pass and race the length of the pitch to score, conversion by Vanny 0-19.
The remainder of the half was played on the back foot as Newts pressured. Lions Captain was forced to make a customary try saving tackle to prevent a certain score for the Newts No8, before the congratulations for the tackle had been completed Nango was forced to repeat the process, a diving tackle at the feet of the Newts centre and another likely try stopped.
The referee’s whistle brought the game to a close and an opportunity for all to retire to the warmth of the clubhouse.