The 2nds put up a good display against the Juddians

There will always be players who work on a Saturday who cannot leave in time for the game. So it was that The Lions 2nd XV had to play with several key players absent but the Team was in good spirits and ready for the fray.
T-J had an experienced , settled team, with a strong pack , who expected to dominate the obviously young and vulnerable Lions forwards . However, ably led by Gary Dixon, the youngsters proved to be very lively opponents and the Home side certainly did not have the scrummaging and loose forward play all to their advantage . They did have the advantage in the line-outs but the Lions defended well and negated much of that superiority.
Of particular note in the forwards was the work of Sam Ludwig , who broke quickly and made good ground. He was ably supported by Mick Beard, who showed his experience and rucked to effect . Joe Chatterton also showed promise at wing – forward and Eoin McGrath, playing in the centre , out of his normal back row, tackled well and reacted well in the subsequent rucks.

Joseph Michael contested strongly and fed Sammy Johnson, who again showed skill and tenacity in attack and defence. Jason Clarke fielded and kicked well in defence .

In the heavy , cold rain, the T-J pack finally forced a try by their pack , which they converted to lead 7 – nil at Half-Time. However, in the second half The Lions pressed hard and Sammy Johnson touched down to reduce the lead . There followed a sustained period of Lions pressure, especially by the pack and T-J held out in their own 22 area ,with difficulty . They were shocked by the strong Lions reaction.
However, after a foray into the Lions area, they managed to force over a scrum try to take the lead to 12 – 5 . The Lions were certainly not disheartened and continued to take the game to the opposition until the end.

This was an encouraging display by a weakened Lions 2nd Team and morale was high after the best result away to T-J for many years.