The Lions came up short to Charlton Park.

The south London side opened strongly and quickly built up a ten point lead after first being awarded a penalty for not releasing at a ruck, which was kicked by fly half Smith, this score was swiftly followed with a try by right wing O’Keeffe, who found himself in acres of space after the ball was won at a breakdown. Smith adding the conversion.10-0 to Charlton Park
So the Lions who had hardly had time to draw breath found themselves ten points down. It was evident from the start that the visitors possessed a potent attack with both speed and good handling abilities, the Lions gradually grew into the game and came close to scoring on a number of occasions through forward drives by the pack.
The game, which started with Charlton Park in command, developed into a much more even contest, with defences hard to breakdown. The Battle for possession up front was hard fought with the Lions edging the scrums and Charlton Park commanding the line outs with their skipper and second row McManus giving a superb display.
The remainder of the half was fairly evenly contested until the Lions gifted Charlton Park an easy score, when an attempted clearance kick which was charged down by outside centre Amzaleg, who ran into score wide-out and give his side a 15-0 lead at the break.
The Lions, like they have on so many occasions this season, upped their performance in the second half which saw both attacks being nullified by solid defences. Outstanding in this regard was Lions fly half Anthony Hart, whose bone crunching tackles deserved an x rating.
In a very evenly contested second half there were a number of outstanding performances on both sides, none more so than Charlton Park Fly Half Smith, whose game management was excellent. His kicking out of hand whether it is tactical or for territory was first class. For the Lions, captain and inside centre Adam Michael had an outstanding game both in defence and attack.
The second period remained scoreless until midway through the half when the visitors added to their score with an unconverted try by their inside centre Doughty, who scored wide out following ball won at a ruck. 20-0 to Charlton Park.
The remainder of the half remained scoreless with the visitors running out worthy winners although one felt slightly flattered by the margin of victory.

Team

M.Curd, S.Hanley, A.Hollingworth, D.Atkinson, D.Norman, A. Chamberlain, A. Agar, J.Hinkins, J.Erskine, A. Hart, G.Elsom, A. Michael, N.Mitford, A. Moss, L.Armstrong

Subs

D.Rose, C.Thatcher, & Player Coach L.Ambrose

This Saturday the Lions travel to South London to play Old Mid-Whitgiftian.The 2nd’s are at home to Maidstone, the 3rd’s away to Whitstable and the 4th’s are at home to Canterbury. All Kick Offs 2.30pm.

Reporter Gerald Griffiths