STAUNCH EFFORT BY THE LIONS AT RE-ARRANGED MATCH

The two clubs arranged to play the fixture at Charlton on the 27 April and so the players of both clubs looked forward to relaxation at Easter . However, at 8.30 pm on Wednesday evening ,the League Secretary ordered the two clubs to play the match on Easter Saturday or suffer a 5 point penalty, which could be carried on to next season.

So, in a fever of activity, a Deal & Betteshanger Team was gathered , administrative arrangements made and a young Team, with several newcomers to 1st XV rugby, travelled to South-East London .

Charlton Park also had team members away on holiday and so it was a credit to both clubs that such a competitive match took place .

The Lions started strongly, with advances made with mauls and rucks and eventually Luke Armstrong on the Wing scored the first of 3 tries . The story of the match was a series of changes as both sides grabbed the lead only for their opponents to over-haul them . Several kicks at goal were missed , which was a shame, as the Lions certainly deserved to gain a bonus point from being in a close contest, in an ‘Away Match’ against the 2nd Club in the League .

Both sides are to be congratulated on their endeavour, good humour and the fulfilment of this fixture . It showed a resilient character !

David Storrie

The Head Coaches Appraisal

Considering that we did not know that we had to play this game until late Wednesday evening, this result was, in many ways, to be expected However, we could have won this game and we certainly should have walked away with a losing bonus point. Once again, this team showed our dogged side, and if ever we needed it, this was certainly a game where we had to display those facets of our game.

We competed well in all areas, unfortunately we just had too many players in key positions missing. There is no doubt that we left nothing on the pitch and the stated aim was to go there at short notice, with players missing, and save the five points that we would probably have lost if we did not play the game. ( The five point penalty would have been carried over to next season ). The avoidance of that situation is in itself a great result. However, there are other areas that I would like to highlight. The admin from committee members was first class. We obtained a bus, a physio, selection, it is fair to say, was fraught !! All at extremely short notice. We arrived in good time and the pre match arrangements, now well oiled, certainly helped to settle in the players we had called in. In my opinion, as an overall exercise in how to operate in adversity, this just goes to show that there are many, many good things going on in our club.

We can now plan for next season, hopefully coming off the back of two wins in our final games. Well done everyone.

David Wiggins