Same old story as Lions lose again

They went down 26-10 to Otley at Solstice Park, Bretton, and remain rooted to the foot of the National League Two (North) table with just one win from 10 outings.

And the defeat had a familiar ring to it. The Lions were by no means outclassed by a side who were three times National Legaue One champions, and indeed for long patches of the game they were the dominant force territorially and possession-wise.

But in the finishing dapratment the Lions were distinctly second best. They created just as many try-scoring chances as Otley, probably a few more in fact, but just couldn’t get the ball over the try-line often enough to win the game or even to collect any bonus points.

“It’s so frustrating,” said Lions chairman Andy Moore. “We do all the hard work and get nothing for it. We’ve outclassed Otley today for long spells and had most of the game but once more we’ve been punished for our mistakes.

“It’s simple. At this level if you make mistakes you get punished - it’s that type of rugby. Missed tackles have cost us again.

“Still at least that was a much better show than the one we gave against Huddersfield in our last home game. We’re fighting hard. It’s coming, slowly. We just need to grow up a bit.”

It took Otley 26 minutes to open the scoring with the first of their four tries and it came against the run of play.

Lions had the better of the early exchanges and new full-back German Herrara Luhrs, an impressive Chilean international, came within a foot of getting over the line after a superb 20-yard burst by hooker Jack Askham.

Rory White on the left wing also caught the eye with a couple of strong-running breaks down the touchline and the Lions were unlukcy to go behind.

Another counter-attack saw Otley nick a second try five minutes later after a speedy shift by one of their nippy wingers and the deficit was 14-0.

The Lions then had an Aki Lea try disallowed as Charley Robinson was adjuged to have put a toe in touch before delivering the scoring pass.

Right on the stroke of half-time they eventually got a score their pressure warranted when Robinson drove over after good lineout work by Tom Lewis.

Lions started the second half strongly with Luhrs looking most menacing with runs from deep but all the good work came to nothing. Instead Otley moved the ball smartly upfield and took advantage of some half-hearted tackling to make it 19-5 with their third try.

The Lions hit back with a touchdown by Christian Edbrooke after a powerful drive from a lineout by Alex Ioannou and it was 19-10 to the visitors.

But the Lions never really looked like crossing the line again as Otley finished the stronger of the two. They added their fourth try with five minutes left.

Lions: Josh Waller, Jack Askham, Joe Lee, Marius Andrijauskas, Christian Edbrooke, Tom Lewis, Aki Lea, Jake Carter, Tom Dougherty, Ben Young, Nico Defeo, Suva Ma’asi, Rory White, Shaquille Meyers, German Herrara Luhrs. Subs: Franco Perticaro, Charley Robinson, Jack Lewis, Alex Ioannou, Allen Carr.