Leicester Lions 45 pts Luctonians 21
LUCTONIANS director of rugby Alex Davidson was left deflated after his side were comfortably beaten by National Two North rivals Leicester Lions.
The north Herefordshire side travelled on the back of three straight wins and would no doubt have been hoping for more from their visit to mid-table Lions.
"We prepared well for the weekend although the agricultural commitments of some of our players were stacking up, with Anthony Marfell and Ben James, in particular, heavily involved with lambing," said Davidson.
"We were confident and we started well in the first five minutes but Lions then started to dominate at the set-pieces, first of all at the scrum and then our line-out fell apart."
Luctonians held out until the 17th minute when they were awarded a penalty try which was converted by Jordan Knight.
"It looked as if we would only be one try behind at half-time, which would have been a real 'get out of jail' for us," said Davidson. "But then they scored twice more just before half-time."
Tom Morris and Knight both ran in tries with Knight converting the Morris try to take the interval score to 19-0.
"We made four changes at half-time as it was clear something drastic had to be done," said Davidson. "Ben Williams came on at nine and Will Burton moved in to 10."
But Lions scored a fourth try two minutes after the break before Luctonians started a fight back.
"Jimmy Norris scored an excellent try with a chip and chase but each time we scored, they seemed to get one, too," admitted Davidson.
Tries for Norris and Daniel Smith were converted by Burton but the home side scored through Jack Gibbons, Luke Veebel and Adam Greendale - with Knight adding the extras on each occasion - before Cheshire's late score, converted by Burton, rounded things off.
Luctonians now face struggling Sheffield at Mortimer Park on Saturday.
Last week, Luctonians hosted a rugby evening featuring Wales and British Lion star Jamie Roberts and international referee Nigel Owens.
"It was a really good night and Jamie was quite open," said Davidson. "It was very well-timed in the lead-up to the England v Wales game last Sunday."
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