Lions roar as Clifton no longer unbeaten

Leicester L’s …39 Clifton …20

By MIKE HOWKINS

LIONS were expecting a tough game against previously unbeaten Clifton and they certainly got it The game started with even exchanges, but on five mins Lions’ Jamel Hamilton broke through from short range to score. Clifton had an effective ten minutes, putting Lions under sustained pressure.

Rapid try-scoring from Tom Jones, Luke Stratford and Chris Levesley, with Bradley Barnes adding a conversion, put Clifton on the front foot with a 5-17 lead.

Clifton’s Ricardo Cano was yellow-carded for a technical offence on 35 mins Lions came back strongly in the last five minutes of the half, with tries from Devon Constant and Sam Benjamin.

In the first minute of the second half,Lions’ Ed Sumpter drove through, slipping the ball to Max Johnson who ran in for a 20-17 lead.

Max Johnson then went through to add a try, with Greg Loydall adding a conversion to open up Lions’ lead to 27-17.

Barnes added a penalty for Clifton to keep them in the game at 27-20.

In the last ten minutes, Lions showed their commitment and skill with two rapid tries. A kick-out was collected by Constant, who powered his way to score a second try. The game was completed by an exciting driving run by Ed Sumpter for a try, with Loydall adding the conversion.

A well deserved win by Lions, replying to Clifton’s mid-game surge.

Head coach, Gareth Collins said “They gave us a testing afternoon. I was proud of the way we came back in the last 50 minutes for a deserved win.”