The Lions Show their Pride

The Lions survival in London South East Two was on the line as they travelled to Sussex on Saturday to play Heathfield and Waldron. Their mission was ambiguous as nothing more than victory would prevent relegation.
The Lions supporters, conscious of how vital victory was, turned up in bigger numbers than for any other away fixture this season. The opening exchanges were fairly evenly contested with both sides gauging their opponent’s strength and weaknesses.
The Lions following a period of pressure in and around Heathfield and Waldron’s 22 were awarded two penalties. The first they kicked to touch in an attempt to drive over from the resulting lineout but were thwarted. The decision to go for goal from the second was rewarded by the reliable boot of young Ollie Best.
An early surprise for the Lions supporters was the sight of their pack being shunted at the scrums, an area where they are usually dominant. The Lions lead proved short lived when, being awarded a penalty, the homeside kicked into the corner and winning scruffy possession from the lineout set up a driving maul before releasing the ball to the left wing that squeezed over in the corner. 5-3 to Heathfield and Waldron.
Fifteen minutes into the game the home side were reduced to fourteen men, when one of their locks was sent to the bin for persistent offside infringements at the rucks and mauls. The Lions were having difficulty in building momentum with both scrum and line out under pressure at this stage, but any set piece deficiencies were cancelled out by the Lions pack in the loose and at the breakdown, where they had the edge over the homeside.
The visitors moved back into the lead midway through the half following good work by the forwards. Winning lineout ball they set up a driving maul and after initially being halted drove again before scrum half and captain Adam Michael, sniffing the whitewash picked up and with his customary strength and determination forced his way through three defenders to score.8-5 to The Lions.
It was obvious from the play so far that this game would probably see no run away victory for either side and what was also obvious was that the Lions side under the guidance of Lee Ambrose had come to this game with a steely resolve to give every last ounce in their desire for victory.
The homeside who also needed victory to be sure of survival, if the result between Tunbridge Wells and Lewes didn’t go their way, came very close to scoring in the thirtieth minute when their full back providing the overlap on a flowing move down the right flank looked certain to score but was prevented by some superb cover defence by right wing Nathan Mitford who had raced from the opposite wing to knock him into touch, a metre short of the line. The Lions stretched their lead to 11-5 before the break with a penalty by Ollie Best.
Whatever was said by Coach Lee Ambrose at half time the effect on the packs scrummaging was immediate as they put pressure on the opposing pack at every scrum after the break. Andy Agar, who replaced the injured Alistair Chamberlain late in the first half made his presence felt with a couple of surging runs early in the second period. Although scoring less points the Lions were much more dominant in the second half and got themselves in god scoring positions on several occasions without being able to finish the moves off.
Twenty five minutes into the half the visitors scored a vital try which put they two scores ahead at 16-5. The move started with a line break by the excellent Anthony Hart, the ball ending in the hands of Ollie Best, who worked his magic beating players first on his inside and then on the outside to score in the left corner. The half which had been largely controlled by the Lions, saw a late charge by the home side who mounted pressure on the Lions line but were met with the type of resistance that brings the battle cry ”They shall not Pass” to mind.
The home side did add two penalties to their score through their fly half but could not find any cracks in the Lions defence.
The final whistle heralded jubilant scenes amongst both Lions players and spectators as they celebrated one of the most important victories of the clubs short history.
For the Lions there was no man of the match as it was just a brilliant 18 man squad effort, without forgetting the coach Lee Ambrose’s guiding influence.

Reporter Gerald Griffith