Lions roar on as cold weather hits hard

PETERBOROUGH Lions closed the gap to runaway leaders Birmingham and

Solihull Bees as the weather once again had a major say.

Just four of the games survived the freeze as the Lions, Doncaster Phoenix, Nuneaton and Scunthorpe all claimed victories.

The Bees were not in action for the second consecutive week, their clash at Bournville called off, and Peterborough took advantage to close to seven points in second as they beat Derby 14-8.

Lions scored the opening try on ten minutes through Vili Ma’asi, but the conversion would be the final points of the half as they went in 7-0 to the good.

Derby responded with a try of their own at the start of the second half, and whilst they missed one chance to take the lead, a second penalty was good as they edged 8-7 ahead. The lead would only last four minutes though as Peterborough instantly hit back with their second try from another Tongan, Sioki Vaha Taufui, this one again converted by Nico Defeo.

It would be enough for a victory that also sees them move five points clear of third placed Newport

Salop, who also saw their game at Longton postponed.

Doncaster Phoenix were the latest side to heap further misery on bottom of the table Old Halesonians, who for the third time in four games conceded over a century of points, Doncaster 103-0 winners.

Three first-half tries saw Nuneaton win on the road, 19-14 at Lichfield.

Lichfield took the early lead with the opening try, but Nuneaton soon levelled at 7-7 and two further tries, the second of which came just before the interval as they went in 19-7 ahead.

The Nuns couldn’t add to their lead after the break and whilst Lichfield crossed for a converted try, they couldn’t find any further score.

The final match of the day to go ahead saw Scunthorpe ease to victory away at Newbold on Avon 36-5.

Scunthorpe led 14-5 at half-time before going on to complete a comfortable bonus-point win.

In addition to the Birmingham and Solihull and Newport Salop games being called off, the fixture between Bridgnorth and

Sandbach also fell victim to the weather.