Match Report: London Scottish Lions 27 – 20 CS Stags
Regional 1 South Central – Round 19
King’s House Sports Ground, London
Saturday, 15:00 KO
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The London Scottish Lions secured an important 27–20 victory over CS Stags in a fiercely contested encounter at King’s House Sports Ground.
While technically listed as the “away” side due to the clubs’ groundshare arrangement, the Lions once again came out on top in this season’s Battle for King’s House, completing the double over their hosts and claiming the unofficial “King of King’s House” bragging rights for the year.
The win continues another strong run of form for the Lions as they push through the closing stages of the Regional 1 South Central season, with the result maintaining valuable momentum in the race near the top of the table.
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With the benefit of hindsight, Saturday can probably be described as an unusual day. The second leg of the Battle for King’s House saw the Lions play “away”. They were in changing room 13 (unlucky for some). They were playing on the artificial pitch rather than the normal grass pitch 1. And your correspondent was somewhat distracted by watching on his phone as Scotland demolished France, while the Lions and CS Stags fought it out.
As a result, and with an apology to absolutely no-one, your correspondent’s notes and memories of the Lions’ match are not as comprehensive as usual.
The CS Stags had the better of the opening exchanges, and were able to win several early penalties for the Lions holding on in the tackle. However, much like England, the points per visit to the 22 metric was initially minimal as the Lions’ defence held firm. After 16 minutes, the Lions made the breakthrough, Jem Edwards and Cameron Wray played like the Chuckle Brothers (to me, to you, to me, to you etc.) as they engineered a line break around halfway. Logan Trotter on the right wing showed his pace to run in the first 5-pointer from 40 yards. Nick Hill missed the tricky conversion, but the Lions were ahead.
A break into the Lions’ 22 and some phases play shortly afterwards created an overload on the Lions’ left, and CS Stags scored close to the posts to go ahead 5-7.
Towards the end of the half, a classic Lions move. Penalty, kick to touch, rolling maul. Your correspondent initially saw hooker Flynt Preston taking the high fives, and assumed he was the try scorer. Although captain Joe Emson later ended up in hospital with a dislocated wrist (and we wish him a quick and speedy recovery), he was still able to message your correspondent to tell me that his recovery would be helped if he was correctly identified as the try scorer. 10-7 to the Lions.
The Stags responded immediately, earning a penalty a few phases after kicking off, with the kick making it 10-10 as the half approached. However, the Lions were determined to be ahead at the break, a line out on the left flank leading to the veteran’s veteran Mark Bright cutting a hard inside line from a ruck to go over near the posts. Nick Hill’s conversion made the half time score 17-10 to the good.
Early in the second half, and much like the week before, a penalty to the Lions gave Nick Hill the opportunity to take a quick tap. With a fractured defence unprepared, Hill raced under the posts, his conversion taking the score to a seemingly comfortable 24-10.
A missed conversion after the Stags’ next try left the score 24-15, which with 25 minutes to go felt important. A penalty from in front to Hill took the Lions to 27-15, before a late try to Stags closed it to a one score game, 27-20.
The earlier missed conversion meant the Stags could only draw with a converted try, and while they exerted pressure for the final few minutes of the match, it never felt to your correspondent that a tying score was likely.
FT 27-20 to the Lions.
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The result ensures the Lions claim this year’s unofficial “King of King’s House” crown after winning both meetings with the Stags this season.
More importantly, the victory represents another valuable step in the closing rounds of the Regional 1 South Central campaign as the Lions continue their push at the top end of the table.
There were strong performances across the park, with Byron Leach named Man of the Match after an outstanding display in the engine room, combining physicality, work rate and leadership throughout the contest.
With momentum building and the business end of the season fast approaching, the Lions will be looking to carry this form into the remaining fixtures.
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Tries: Logan Trotter (16), Joe Emson (37), Mark Bright (40), Nick Hill (44)
Conversions: Nick Hill x2 (41, 45)
Penalties: Nick Hill (55)
MotM: Byron Leach
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Next Round: Saturday 21 March – Ladies Day
>>> read more about Ladies Day
Lions vs Hammersmith & Fulham (H)
– Venue: King’s House Sports Ground (W4 2SH)
– KO: 15:00
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Lions Bs vs New Zealand Kiwis (H)
– Venue: King’s House Sports Ground (W4 2SH)– KO: 14:00
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C Lions vs Hackney 2nd XV (H)
– Venue: King’s House Sports Ground (W4 2SH)– KO: 13:00
