Plucky Lions are beaten by a late try
Bury St Edmunds 27, Leicester Lions 21
National League 2 South
A LATE try saw Leicester Lions lose a close encounter against Bury St Edmunds, writes Michael Howkins.
The game did not start well for Lions with James Stubbs yellow carded for a technical offence and Will Ward going off injured.
Bury put Lions under pressure and after 18 minutes their prop Toby Hill drove over for a try to open the scoring, with Charlie Reed adding the conversion.
On the half-hour Bury again put Lions under pressure when their second row Rob Conquest went over for a try, with Charlie Reed again adding the extras to put Bury 14-0 in front.
Lions came back well towards the end of the first half when their captain and hooker, Oli Taylor, went over for a try, with Jack Vernum adding the conversion to close the gap to 14-7 at half-time.
Bury restarted the second half with pressure on Lions and quickly went over for their third try, their back-row Matt Bursey touching down and widening the lead to 19-7.
Lions fought their way back into the game with some fluent passing by the backs.
More or less straight after the restart Lions winger Devon Constant showed his class by breaking through the Bury defence to score a try with Vernum adding the extras.
In the second half Bury’s Yasin Browne and Ben Cooper were yellow carded on separate occasions.
Lions’ pressure continued and with 15 inutes to go a decisive run by full-back Alex Wilcockson gave them a third try, with Vernum’s conversion taking Lions into the lead for the first time, 21-19.
But with the yellow cards served and offending players back on the pitch, Bury were back at full strength.
In the last ten minutes forward play took Bury towards the Lions line, with Levi Roper going over for their fourth try, putting them back in the lead and earning them a bonus point.
Charlie Reed slotted over a penalty for Bury to seal their 27-21 victory.
Lions head coach Gareth Collins said: ”We expected a tough time at Bury St Edmunds, who were just one place below us in the league.
“I feel we competed well, but Bury just pipped us at the post. It was a game that either side could have won.”
Lions, who are sixth in the league, face Canterbury on Saturday at Westleigh Park, in Lutterworth Road, Blaby, with a 2pm kick-off.