Lions put up a brave fight but it’s another pointless trip

They were away at second-placed Chester and made the Cheshire lads fight hard for their 24-5 win. But although the Lions returned with pride intact, it was another long and pointless trip and relegation is sadly staring them in the face after just one season spent at Level 4.

They are rooted to the foot of the table and are now 22 points from safety with 11 games left.

“To have so much of the game and to come away with nothing is so frustrating,” said Lions chairman Andy Moore.

“We battered them for the last half an hour but just couldn’t get the ball over the line.

“One good thing to come out of today’s game was that we had three brothers on the pitch together - all local lads. That was Tom and Jack Lewis who were joined by Martin, who made his debut at prop. That was great to see.”

Chester scored two early tries wide out for an early 10-0 lead but the Lions hit back after 35 minutes with a Marius Andrijauskas touchdown to make it 10-5.

But just when the Lions were beginning to assert some pressure, Chester slipped in a third try on the stroke of half-time for a 17-5 interval advantage.

Then they caught the Lions cold at the start of the second period with a bonus-point try and a 24-5 lead.

And that’s all they could muster against a battling pack of Lions who never gave up fighting until the final whistle.