Rugby: Lions roar to leave Kendal second bottom (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Rugby: Lions roar to leave Kendal second bottom

3:34pm Thursday 10th November 2011 in Rugby By Frank Jameson

Leicester Lions 46
Kendal 8
Leicester Lions provided all the fireworks when an injury ravaged Kendal squad arrived at Lutterworth Road to try and pick up the pieces after their recent tribulations.

Richard Harryman, with more than 300 games under his belt, captained the side, while two of the newly arrived Fijians, Tale in the centre, and Bave on the replacements bench, wore the Black and Amber shirt for the first time, and Ian Thompson provided cover for the front row on the bench.

Mark Ireland opened the scoring with a 35m penalty after only two minutes' play, but the Lions roared and once they gained possession they took the game by the scruff of the neck.

James Stokes, a young up and coming fly half, set up the first try with a delayed pass to Joe Marston who burst through the middle and scored under the posts, with John Boden converting.

Just a minute later a long ball from Gareth Collins found Steve Cross on his far left and he went over and Boden soon added a penalty kick.

Marston scored his second try in the corner ten minutes later before a bout of fisticuffs threatened to overshadow the Lions’ display.

Joe Ellis decided to take on three players at once and after the Lions sought retribution, Ellis, along with Cross and Tom Cheney, was sent to the bin.

Taking advantage of the numerical superiority though, Kendal drove forward and Harryman came close to the try line, before being pushed over the corner flag.

But the pack drove again for the corner and Matty Houghton squeezed through to give the visitors a confidence boost as the half time whistle blew. Half time: 20-8.

The Lions soon had the fire stoked after the break and restored to full strength Jamie Tyers went over to extend the lead.

Kendal kept fighting though and Joe Mallinson picked up at a midfield scrum, and burst down the middle of the park, but without support the chance was lost.

A superb solo try from James Stokes, direct from a scrum on the 22m line put the game beyond doubt and it was left for Marston to cut inside the cover for his hat-trick, with Stokes adding a conversion.

Gareth Collins went over for the last try of the day as Lions won 46-8 but Kendal kept battling and Fijian Bavu showed great athleticism when coming on in the back row late on.