Depleted Peterborough Lions ran into costly card trouble as they fell to a heavy defeat

Lions entered the fixture severely depleted, missing the entire starting back row from their previous outing, a win against Brackley. The absences of talisman number eight Matthew Worrall-Clare (who scored four tries in that game), co-captain Kelvin Squires, and blindside flanker Paddy Berryman forced a reshuffle, though the visitors initially showed immense fight especially during an even first half.

An end-to-end opening period saw Lions edge ahead 17-14 after Connor Sloan opened the scoring by sniping over from the back of a ruck for a try from five metres out, followed shortly by Ryan Bosworth crossing the line in similar fashion. Will Moore locked in both conversions and added a penalty to hand the visitors that early lead.

But poor discipline and unforced errors cost the city side as their hosts ran in three quick-fire tries to swing the halftime score to 35-17.

Lions dominated territory after the break, camping inside the Casuals' 22 for a sustained 20-minute spell, but repeated knock-ons and penalties thwarted their momentum.

And then Lions unravelled late on after three cards in five minutes saw them reduced in numbers. That included a highly dubious red card which killed off a competitive contest and opened the floodgates for Casuals to run in the final points.

Lions are now bottom of the table and return to action on Saturday, November 14 at home to fourth placed Old Laurentians.