D&B Lions 20 Heathfield & Waldron 27

This was the first time the two teams had met, the visitors having won promotion last season.

The Lions started the game in promising fashion continuing the form they showed when knocking Ashford out of the Kent cup in their previous game. They forced two early penalties, but both attempts sailed wide from the normally reliable boot of young Ollie Best. The Lions pack was beginning to exert pressure on the opposing eight; a good quick heel at a scrum on half way initiated the first score. The ball was quickly moved along the line with full back Dan Best cutting the line with a superb angled run which took him outside the cover defence to score to the right of the posts. His brother Ollie converted. 7-0 to the Lions.

The main threat in the visitors back line to the Lions defence came from their inside centre Tom Sheffield and Fly half Bryn Jones who both looked useful given space. The Lions who were still in the ascendancy doubled their lead in the thirtieth minute. The move started with a quick tap and go by skipper Adam Michael, who fed the Lions chief predator Luke Armstrong. The wing went outside the visitors defence with an arcing run to score to the left of the posts, Ollie Best converting. 14-0 to the Lions There was no further scoring before the break.

Home support at this stage could be forgiven for feeling that their side, with a comfortable lead would probably go on to record a victory and on the way secure another two tries to give them a bonus point. The old adage ‘never count your chickens until the eggs have hatched’ could not have been more appropriate than in the context of this game, because the second half saw the game turn completely on its head.

The visitors surprised everyone as they upped the tempo of their game, whilst the home team went off the boil playing second fiddle to their more ambitious opponents.

The second half was only minutes old when Heathfield & Waldron took a quick tapped penalty, drove it up the middle a couple of times through their forwards before spreading it left for the wing Sam Thewlis to score in the corner. To make matters worse for the Lions they lost skipper Adam Michael, who was sent to the bin for a technical offence. Right Wing Josh Erskine filling in at scrum half in his absence. Heathfield & Waldron narrowed the gap to four points in the 25th minute with a try by their hooker Ollie Smith. 14-10 to the Lions.

The visitors finally nosed ahead through a try by centre Sheffield, converted by fly half Jones. This score served to draw the Lions out of their lethargy with them mounting a short period of pressure, which enabled them to nose into a narrow 20-17 lead following two penalty goals by Ollie Best. With the game now entering the final minutes it looked as though the Lions had pulled a victory out of the jaws of defeat, but Lions joy was short lived with Heathfield & Waldron scoring a rapid ten points in the last few minutes drawing level with a penalty by Jones and scoring a converted try by Stephen Peterson, converted by Jones for a 27-20 victory.

The Lions will be disappointed with this defeat, but will hopefully learn that you can never afford to take your foot off the pedal when in the ascendancy and allow your opponents back in the game. Heathfield & Waldron meanwhile will be more than happy with a hard earned victory deserved for their second half fight back.

This Saturday 1st are away to Aylesford Bulls, 2nds TBA, 3rds at home to Ashford 3rds, and the 4ths away to Whitstable.