Each blade of grass has its spot on earth whence it draws its life, its strength; and so is man rooted to the land from which he draws his faith together with his life.
Joseph Conrad, English Novelist.
Not strictly true, as I sing whatever the occasion, and I think you will find the Lions are of the same ilk, and as this was a friendly match, enjoyment was the raison d’etre of the day.
However, after a tasty start for the Lions, which saw centres, Robertson and James, charging the Park lines, aided and abetted by some great forward play from Williams, Compton and Quirk, Park took advantage of some sloppy defence by Kirk to storm into a 19-0 lead after 20 mins which had the Lions collective puzzled and annoyed at this audacious turn around. Didn’t Park know of the fearsome legend that Kirk had garnered for themselves in Div 5 West? Obviously our East division contemporaries had not! Probably not helped by captain Taff letting Si Richmond play for 14 men Park! It was a friendly and it was supposed to be at centre, until they worked out he was a hooker! Message to self: Idiot! Message ends.
The fight back began with once again the Robertson/Shafi combination tearing through the Park defensive line, and once again being ably abetted by forwards Williams, Compton, Quirk and Taff grafting in the loose. And the inevitable try came from winger Grant’s excellent finishing from more great Lions’ play. With the conversion under the posts made by Robertson, the Lions were now back in the room at 19-7, but half-time came too soon and the momentum was lost. However, Richmond was reclaimed by Taff with O’Hagan sent to help out Parks, one error redeemed, though nothing could be done about Richmond’s ludicrous socks!
Throw down those oranges and fight Lions was the half-time opinion and it worked initially, with the usual suspects thrashing away at the Park defence, and an early breach by the irascible Shafi James, put the Lions right back in the mix with Critch adding the extras. 19-14, game on…….. Message to self/Lions: concentrate, defend, and make it hard for the opposition, message ends, and so did the Lions ascendancy. Park are 6th in their league only because of 8 docked points, and it’s obvious they are a class outfit. Their attacking was sustained and decisive, and they tore holes in the Kirk defence whilst scoring 4 unconverted tries to rumble to 39-14!
Lions live in jungles and seek prey, Lions also frequent rugby pitches and don’t know the words, give up, or surrender! The fight back was swift, decisive and splendid to watch. First Robertson scored the try of the match after wonderful work from Quirk, Shafi, (again), and helped on by some Grant magic hands, (a forward tips his hat to you lads), and when a Park attack was thwarted by some great defence and the hand of Taff, the Lions surged forward seeking the line. Critchley made great inroads but was held up 5 metres out, but on fire Josh Williams saw an opportunity and crashed over for his 2nd try in as many games. Every 2nd row partner Taff has had has scored this season; (Taff is rightly pleased and jealous all at once)! Anyway, 39-26 once Critch converted. Alas for the final whistle! A great game played in a great spirit which gave both teams a good work-out, and if the Lions had been more defensively astute could have been much different!
Still, a big thank-you to Kevin O’Brien and his men for a great game, and to Broughton Park for some great hospitality, it was a genuine pleasure for us Lions and we look forward to reciprocating in the future. And to the Lions: go onto the league website and check out Div 5 East and Parks results and league position, you will see you played against, competed with, and narrowly lost to a very good side full of ex-internationals, ex- 1st team players, and some good young talent. Next wk we play a similar team, (minus the international though), Wirral 4 who we lost 75-3 at home early season, I fancy the score to be different this time around.
Mentions in dispatches: Richmond getting back to fitness and playing for both teams, keep it up mate, loving it. Robertson at centre, sublime mate, Nick Grant on the wing, the Shane Williams of the Lions, some nice touches and a well taken try. Adam ‘the Boss ‘Kirk, as we say in Wales mate, ‘crackin’, the forwards played well once again especially Ean Quirk who just seems to get better with every game, and of course Josh ‘the Tank’ Williams, the force is strong in this one. Special mention to Reece Laney-Lane, ex senior colt making his debut, (yes anther one), good to have you on board mate, and Nial O’Hagan who had a very good 40 mins for Parks at hooker, you won’t be given away so easily next time I can assure you.
But the stars of the show, the eighth wonder of the world and Ormskirk, Costa Coffee’s favourite son, the Brighton basher himself, Shafi James: Eco Warrior. Back in the Lions by personal and public demand, he was/is/will be the TNT in the Lions attacking endeavours. The hair may be shorter but the powerful running and irrepressible tackling is a sight beholden to smiling eyes. I know the colts have made us vets step up a gear, but where Shafi goes the Lions queue en masse, we scent blood and Shafi leads the pride! Well done mate, great to have you back.
I finish with the words of the Manic Street Preachers song, Underdogs, from the album, Send Away The Tigers:
This one’s for the freaks
For you’re so beautiful
For all the devotion
Written in your soul
This one’s for the freaks
For the lost and weak
For the butterflies and devotees
And the disciples of our destiny
Next wk lads, next wk.
Green Army!
Taffy
