England Lionhearts 30 v 22 Scotland

Stanningley ARLFC

 

The England Lionhearts produced an impressive second half performance that included three tries in the final five minutes to stun Scotland in this opening Amateur Four Nations encounter.

 

Hooker Scott Holder and stand off Sam Broadbent were at the fore front of the home side and helped them come away with the win that sent the defending champions spinning to their first defeat in the competition for over two years.

 

Lionhearts head coach Paul Heaton was obviously pleased with his charges display.

 

"I'm delighted with the boys performance, it's a great win for us," said Heaton.

 

"It was very tit-for-tat in the first half with neither side dominating so we spoke about cranking up our defence and then the points would follow."

 

"We managed to do just what we spoke about in the second half and got our just rewards. We showed some great character."

 

Defence dominated the first quarter, although the action did swing from end to end and kept the healthy sized crowd entertained.

 

The first points arrived on 15 minutes when Richard Wareing spotted a gap in the Scottish defence, and the Chorley Panther dived over to touchdown. Scrum half Nicholas Agbo duly tagged on the extras.

 

Stung into action Scotland replied just minutes later as a towering cross-field kick from half back Stuart Fee caused panic in the home defence, allowing the speedy Matt Greenwood - playing not far from his East Leeds home - the chance to ground the loose ball.

 

As the half wore on the sides exchanged further tries as first Matthew McNee crossed to give the visitors the lead, only for Rob Massam - who had gone close twice before - to power over out wide to level matters 10-10 at half time.

 

The Lionhearts returned to the field with renewed vigour and immediately made an impact as prop Russell Morris stormed 50 metres straight from the kick off to move his side swiftly upfield.

 

However, it was Scotland who were to score next and establish a 16-10 lead thanks to a strong run and finish from Giles Lomax who went over from 10 metres out.

 

The Lionhearts then needed to dig deep as the repelled four consecutive sets on their own line, before breaking down the other end and leveling matters courtesy of a jinking individual effort from the lively Holder.

 

That score and the committed defensive effort seemed to galvanise England as they went on to finish with a flourish.

 

Despite Dom Pullen increasing the Scotland lead on 68 minutes, the Lionhearts roared back and three tries in the final five minutes proved enough.

 

Holder got the hosts rolling with just five minutes left as he almost recreated his first effort as he danced round several would-be tackles to touchdown, before moments later the hugely impressive Massam hit the ball at pace to go over from 15 metres out and give England a lead they would not relinquish.

 

With the clock ticking down Broadbent sealed the contest as he somehow managed to plant the ball down despite the attention of three defenders and the partisan crowd were left to go home happy.

 

England

1 Greg Newlands (Jarrow Vikings)
2 Josh Thorneycroft (Greenwich Admirals)
3 Matt Stringer (St Albans Centurions)
4 Rob Massam (Chester Gladiators)
5 Adam Peel (St Ives Roosters)
6 Sam Broadbent (Chester Gladiators)
7 Nicholas Agbo (Greenwich Admirals)
8 Matt Evans (Telford Raiders)
9 Scott Holder (Kippax Knights)
10 Russell Morris (Devon Sharks)
11 Tim Stevens (Hemel Stags)
12 Demetrius Gonsalves (Leicester Storm)
13 Dan Reeds (Nottingham Outlaws)
Subs (all used)
14 Richard Wareing (Chorley Panthers)
15 Manbir Mann (Greenwich Admirals)
16 Paul Hyder (Greenwich Admirals)
17 Oliver Johnson (Southampton Spitfires)
18 Tom Gallagher (East Lancashire Vikings)

 

Scorers
T Wareing (15), Massam (40,77), Holder (60,75), Broadbent (80)
G Agbo, Broadbent (2)

Scotland

1 Nick Broere (Edinburgh Eagles)
2 Mark Greenwood (East Leeds)
3 Calum Cockburn (Edinburgh Eagles)
4 Dominic Pullen (UWIC)
5 Rob Sloman (Blackpool Scorpions)
6 Patrick Coupar (Edinburgh Eagles)
7 Stuart Fee (Hemel Stags)
8 Colin Jarvis (Edinburgh Eagles)
9 David Vernon (Edinburgh Eagles)
10 Martyn Nicoll (Oulton Raiders)
11 Mike Stewart (Lincoln City Knights)
12 Rich Johnston (Edinburgh Eagles)
13 Matthew McNee (Hull Dockers)
Subs (all used)
14 Thomas Murray (Fife Lions)
15 Niall Parkinson (Edinburgh Eagles)
16 Giles Lomax (Edinburgh Eagles)
17 Alan Thompson (Upton)
18 Andy Grodynski (Edinburgh Eagles)

 

Scorers
T Greenwood (19), McNee (27), Lomax (45), Pullen (68)
G Fee (3)

HT: 10-10

Men of the Match

England - Scott Holder
Scotland - Matty McNee

 

Scoring sequence
6-0, 6-4, 6-10, 10-10, 10-16, 14-16, 14-22, 20-22, 24-22, 30-22