After the closure of the Kings House Sports Ground due to waterlogged pitches, the game was quickly relocated to the ‘Rock’ Rosslyn Park’s home ground and the all weather pitch. The game went ahead in very wet and windy conditions. This was Round 2 of the Surrey Quins Cup Competition and the second game for the newly formed London Scottish Lions Colts team.
The first half saw the Lions Colts playing with a slight cross field wind advantage and for over 20 minutes were camped in their opponents 22. The pressure was felt by the RP with repeated infringements resulting in a yellow card to one of their forwards. However, even with the player advantage, the young Lions could not convert the pressure into points, being held up close or over the line on multiple occasions and a solitary penalty goal was the only reward for the half. HT Lions Colts 3-0 RP.
The second half started almost as a carbon copy of the first half but with RP camped in the Lions Colts 22. A well organised defence managed to repel multiple attempts at the line from RP but a couple of offside infringements allowed RP to kick two penalty goals to take the lead 3-6. The Lions Colts were then able to get their attack going threatening their opponents line on several occasions but costly errors with ball in hand stunted the attack to relieve the pressure for RP. With about 10 minutes to go, RP were able to put together multiple phases and cross the line with a well worked try to push their lead to 3-11, which remained the Full Time score.
Despite the weather conditions, the game was played in great spirits between two evenly matched local rival teams. For their second game together the young Lions showed great spirit and were in the game to the end. But in the end, it was once again our lack of game time together and inability to convert time in the opposition 22 into points that was the deciding factor at the final whistle. That said there was a lot of talent on display for London Scottish Lions and the future looks bright for the club.
A special thank you to our referee, Gareth Jones, who managed the game extremely well in difficult weather conditions. Also to all our supporters who braved the conditions to support us and help with transport for the players. Thanks also to the Rosslyn Park Colts management who were able to at short notice rearrange the match venue to their home ground. And finally, London Scottish Lions Colts would not be possible without the fantastic support from the Velocity Trade team and their sponsorship.
The next game for the London Scottish Colts is on Sunday 9th February at Home vs. Dorking RFC (2pm KO at Kings House Sports Ground).
