National League 1: Taunton Titans 17-27 Leicester Lions

TAUNTON Titans were hit with their ninth defeat in ten league games at the weekend as they lost at home to Leicester Lions.

The match in the National One Rugby division ended 17-27 in favour of the Lions and the loss sees Taunton fall to 13th place.

In the early exchanges Taunton were reliant on their defence as Leicester were pushing high up the pitch.

However the titans held strong and managed to change the tide of the early proceedings.

After a period of sustained pressure Taunton were awarded a penalty and chose to kick, however Frankie Dart hit the kick just wide and the score remained 0-0.

In the 25th minute though the home side went in front as Ben Olliphant-Thompson barged his way over from the breakdown. It was converted by Dart for 7-0.

From the kick off the Lions regained possession and spread the ball wide to touch down out wide, cancelling out the try almost instantly, 7-7.

In the 29th minute Will Glister of the Lions was shown a yellow card for a high tackle but despite the man advantage Taunton were unable to make the most of it.

The visitors were able to get the final score of the half from a penalty to make it 7-10 .

Just before the break, Titans top scorer Noah Fenton showed the crowd his skills with a pacey run that led to a chip and chase but it amounted to nothing.

At the break it was 7-10 and overall it had been a fairly quiet half of rugby as neither side was able to really dig in.

The Titans started the second period strong and levelled the scores as Dart converted a penalty from right in front.

However, again from the kick off Lions won back possession and spread the ball wide to score their second of the afternoon. The conversion was missed so the score was 10-15.

Much time passed without much action near either try line as the visitors were happy to consolidate their position.

And in the 66th minute Leicester were able to get field position after a miss kick from Taunton.

They spread the ball to score in the corner once again, the conversion missed and the score was 10-20.

Taunton snapped out of a lull with a great passage of play in the 74th minute. It resulted in a try for William De Boehmler after a line break from Jordan Petherbridge.

It was converted to make it 17-20 and it was game on. But not for long as the Lions were able to fend off the pressure and worked the ball down the other end of the pitch to score their fourth try picking up a bonus point in the process. It was converted and the final score was 17-27.

All in all a tough defeat for Taunton who now sit second bottom. Up next, they travel to Darlington Mowden Park on Saturday, November 25.