Deal & Betteshanger try to make headway against Sevenoaks

Deal & Betteshanger Lions suffered a narrow 5-3 defeat to Sevenoaks in London 2 South East in atrocious weather conditions on Saturday.

Up against strong winds, heavy rain and a hail shower, players from both sides found it tough going. But the visitors from Sevenoaks, using their big and powerful pack, won the forward tussle and just held out for the narrow victory.

In the rain, before the hailstorm, the Lions were having the better of the exchanges and forced Sevenoaks back towards their line.

Young lock Wade Roberts had to go off with a shoulder injury early on, but Leighton Docherty kicked an excellent penalty into the strong wind to put the Lions 3-0 ahead.

Then came the hail shower and the referee had to call a temporary halt to the game.

After the resumption, Sevenoaks found extra power and launched several good attacks from the base of their scrums to the blind side.

One of these thrusts resulted in a try down the flank and they went in 5-3 ahead at the interval.

In the second half the fierce forward struggle resumed, with the Lions defending valiantly as Sevenoaks tried to press home their size advantage.

Andy Widdett, a late replacement for the ill Matt Curd, showed his skill and experience before he was given a 10-minute sin-binning for a technical misdemeanour.

The Lions pack was further depleted by an injury to the hard-tackling John Harrington, but they never gave up, pressing the visitors hard at the end of the game but just failing to score.

A hard-fought but fair game, and the second-half territorial possession of Sevenoaks justified the close result .