Back on Track for the Lions 2ND fifteen

First Half
Exactly like Round 2, Southern Lions failed to control a deep kick-off by the opposition and immediately put themselves on the defensive. Midlands then overpowered the Lions scrum gaining possession close to the home try line. They easily brushed off some poor defense by the Lions to score the first try of the game. The conversion was successful, 0-7 Midlands.
The Lions failed to rouse themselves and struggled to gain any decent possession. Midlands worked their way into the home 22 and once more cantered over for a try. The conversion was unsuccessful 0-12. (Mastroeni replaced Desai).
For the second week running Lions found themselves two tries down before the half time whistle. Finally the home team began to play some rugby and worked forward into the opposition half. Some concerted pressure resulted in a block down and try by Matt Hanson to close the wide score gap. The conversion was successful, 7-12 Midlands.
Half-time
(Nelson replaced Morton, Beets replaced Hinder, Parker replaced Coffey)
Second Half
The Lions continued in the second half like they finished the first. The new players also resulted in an increased tempo and the home team started to dominate the opposition. Strong team play brought the Lions into the Midlands 22 and Quinton Beets burst over from close range to draw the teams level. The conversion was unsuccessful 12-12 Lions. (Liu replaced Hanson)
The home team continued to bring the game to Midlands and started to create some space for the home backs. Scott McDuffus didn’t have to be asked twice and stretched out his gazelle like frame to bound past the away defence and score in the corner. The conversion was unsuccessful but the home team had hit the front, 17-14 Lions.
Straight from the kick-off, the Lions charged back up the field and another strong run from the gazelle like centre McDuffus tore open the Midlands defence. Not waiting for a second invitation, the Player of the Day Alex Gorman dummied his way to near the try line before offloading like Brian O’Driscoll (BOD for future reference) to Scott Turnbull who finished the fine play under the posts. The Lions had secured the bonus point and the conversion was also successful, 24-12 Lions.
(Desai replaced Mastroeni, De Araujo replaced Gorman, Hinder replaced Adlam)
The substitutions seemed to upset the Lions’ momentum and Midlands attacked hard. Strong defence held them out until near full time when Midlands scored out wide. The conversion was unsuccessful 24-17 Lions. Shortly after, the game finished to give the Lions 2nd’s their second win from 3 games.
Final Score: Southern Lions 24 Midlands 17
Player of the Day: Alex Gorman.

Team: 1 – Gorman, A 2 – Ricci, D (Dingo) 3- Desai D (Desire) 4 – Hinder, R 5 – Coffey T 6 –7 – Jackson P (PJ) 8 – Caulfield J (Captain) 9 – Morton J 10 – Hanson M 11 – Adlam J 12 – Hanlon S 13 – McDuffus S (Diesel) 14 – Hill M 15 – Haywood A Coach – Finlay J Manager – O’Shea R
On-Field Replacements: Beets Q, Parker D (Spider), Nelson T (Nelli), Mastroeni P (Peter the Prop), Liu W, Hinder B, De Araujo M