Hoppers couldn't tame the Lions

High-flying Leicester Lions preserved their unbeaten run but certainly knew they had been in a battle at Lightfoot Green on Saturday. Regrettably so did Hoppers, losing big hitting centre Danny Halliwell with a badly broken ankle just 9 minutes into the game which undoubtedly aggravated the fact that at least five first choice players were kicking their heels in the treatment room.

Coach Dave Baldwin praised his side’s huge defensive effort but was disappointed that they fell down on basics, surrendered too much possession and let their opponents back into the game after they had got their noses in front.

Hoppers saw little of the ball in the first half but defended stoutly to keep out wave after wave of attacks, the only score being a penalty from Jon Boden on 25 minutes. As the first period drew to a close, Hoppers at last won some ball and came close twice with Matt Hughes tackled in the corner after a Sean Taylor break before Mark Edwards, on for the injured Halliwell, hacked through a loose ball and just failed to touch it down before it went dead.

At the restart, it was odds on that the defence would soon crack, but, against the run of play to date, it was Hoppers who made it happen. In the opening minute Taylor’s break put Mike Milward clear but the flanker lacked the pace to make the line. But after 55 minutes, Edwards worked the blindside from a scrum on halfway and his perfectly weighted pass was taken at pace by Adam Crisp who used his speed and strength to battle over for arguably the try of the game.

Tommy Bell’s kick drifted wide but Hoppers had showed their attacking flair but then, not for the first time this season, they made a complete mess of receiving kick off, gifting their opponents possession and position. Lions needed no second bidding and a strong drive by their pack put lock Solomon over and, although the kick failed, the visitors were back in front.

This proved to be the turning point of the game for, although Hoppers’ midfield defence contained Lions main attacking threat of the crash ball in the centre, they were kept on the back foot and on 67 minutes Tommy Ball’s attempted clearance was charged down by Pepe Nanci who followed up to score and Boden converted.

Hopers tried to make the best of limited possession on the counter but a tiring defence was broached again after 76 minutes when replacement Jamie Wilkins exploited an overlap to run in and Boden’s conversion made the game safe.

Some positives can be taken from this performance, however and, with the possibility of some injured players back next week, Hoppers can travel to struggling Nuneaton with the objective of getting back into winning ways.