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NEWCASTLE RED BULLS 14 LIONS 10
Newcastle Red Bulls left it late to clinch a hard-earned victory over the Lions on Saturday, with Murray McCallum’s last-minute try sealing a nail-biting EPCR Challenge Cup encounter at Kingston Park.
The home side started at pace but found themselves a try down inside four minutes when left wing Angelo Davids raced 50 metres against the run of play to dot down a converted try.
Hard carrying from Ollie Leatherbarrow and Cameron Hutchison helped get the Red Bulls on the front foot, and the scores were tied on 14 minutes when Boeta Chamberlain’s scything line-break saw him free Alex Hearle for a 30-metre run between the posts.
Chamberlain added the simple conversion, but his side trailed by three at the quarter mark as Sam Francis chipped over a penalty for the Lions from in front.
A jackal turnover from Richard Palframan prevented further gains for the visitors when they tapped a close-range penalty but lost the resulting ruck, and the Lions were reduced to 14 men when Davids was sin-binned for a tackle on Christian Wade.
It was a moment which also cut short the debut of the Newcastle winger, whose own side were reduced to 14 men when Ollie Fletcher was sin-binned following a string of penalties conceded by his team near their own try-line.
They battled on under heavy pressure, however, withstanding a sustained onslaught inside their own 22 and denying the South Africans a second try as the Lions’ half-time lead stood at 10-7.
The wind became a bigger influence in a scrappy start to the second half as gusts disrupted the handling and kicking game of both teams – Newcastle kicking out on the full and Lions passing straight into touch.
An attempted cross-field kick from the South Africans was sucked into the South Stand by the gale, and when they made a line-break around the hour mark the final pass went to ground.
The Red Bulls’ continued attempts to grab the game saw play worked wide to Harrison Obatoyinbo, only for the referee to award a penalty in the Lions’ favour, and the wind affected play once more when Chamberlain’s attempted penalty was blown wide of the uprights.
The hosts kicked a penalty to the corner with five minutes remaining but knocked on in phase play, and were denied a winner when the TMO deemed a grounding to be just short of the line amid a wave of Newcastle pressure.
But there was time for one more moment of glorious drama as Murray McCallum won it with a last-minute pick-and-go, brilliantly converted by Brett Connon.
Newcastle Red Bulls: 15 Boeta Chamberlain, 14 Christian Wade (Harrison Obatoyinbo, 30), 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Cameron Hutchison, 11 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 10 Ethan Grayson (Brett Connon, 58), 9 Sam Stuart (James Elliott, 40); 1 Adam Brocklebank (Micky Rewcastle, 54), 2 Ollie Fletcher (George McGuigan, 54), 3 Richard Palframan (Murray McCallum, 54), 4 Oscar Usher (Jamie Hodgson, 4), 5 Finn Baker, 6 Tom Gordon, 7 Tom Christie (captain), 8 Ollie Leatherbarrow.
Scorers – Tries: Alex Hearle, Murray McCallum. Conversions: Boeta Chamberlain, Brett Connon.
Lions: 15 Gianni Lombard, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Manuel Rass (Rynhardt Jonker, 67), 12 Richard Kriel, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Sam Francis (Lubabalo Dobela, 60), 9 Nico Steyn; 1 Eddie Davids, 2 Morne Brandon (PJ Botha, 55), 3 RF Schoeman (Conrad van Vuuren, 56), 4 Dylan Sjoblom, 5 Ruben Schoeman, 6 Renzo du Plessis, 7 Sibo Qoma, 8 WJ Steenkamp.
Scorers – Tries: Angelo Davids. Conversions: Sam Francis. Penalties: Sam Francis.
Referee: Benoit Rousselet (France). Attendance: 4,703.
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