Lions go down in tour opener

Manly-Warringah A Grade 22 v 10 BARLA Great Britain Lions Brookvale Oval, Manly

The BARLA Great Britain Lions lost the opening game of the tour to a strong Manly A Grade side which included ex-Wakefield Trinity star Steve Watene and first grader Tai Lavea, who ran the show for the home side. BARLA played their part in a good contest but tries at the beginning and end of the second half did the damage.

A nervous opening by the tourists, who were forced to defend their own line with an early dropout, saw them go 6-0 down after ten minutes. BARLA then lost the ball on their own 20 metre line and on the second tackle second rower Nathan Shattle took the pass from the play the ball to crash through from ten metres. Maika Felise added the extras.

BARLA recovered slowly and began to look dangerous. On 22 minutes scrum half Terry Lynn crossed following a scrum, after gliding through the first line of the Manly defence he waltzed past the fullback to score. Carl Rudd missed the conversion but the Lions kept up the momentum. Although losing possession at times early in the tackle count, in the 27th minute captain Tommy Goulden made a superb break but was held eight metres from the line. However, the next Manly attack two minutes later saw the home side go into a 12-4 lead that they held till the break. Player Maker Lavea reacting fastest to his own grubber kick.

The Lions conceded a try six minutes into the second half following a penalty against them on the last tackle. Following that Manly prop Chris Jordan drove over from five metres with BARLA claiming he had not touched down. The linesman initially agreed, but after consulting with referee David Lombardo the try was awarded and Zoey Hart added the extras.

BARLA's forwards hit back and included superb drives from substitute David Patterson. Chances went begging when stand off Carl Rudd just failed to touchdown Danny Kilshaw's grubber and forward Dave Goddard knocked on with the line beckoning.

With five minutes remaining Lions substitute Gary Weymes crashed through four Manly defenders for a deserved try and Paul Toole added the extras to make it 18-10. On the next attack Weymes put a superb pass to centre John McMullen who made a 30 metre break, however his offload saw Manly regain possession. From the next play Manly counter-attacked and Felise sent John Mitchell through a large hole for the final points in the last minute.

Teams

Manly: Zoey Hart, Graeme Jefferies, Sam Peters, Andrew Needham, Brent Thomas, Shawn Townsend,Tai Lavea, Chris Jordan, Martin Cook (C), Steve Watene, Totai Hala, Warrick Smith Subs: Brett Curry, John Mitchell, Ben Munro, Terry Taia, Mike Armstrong, Maike Felise, Jonathon Wilson (All Used)

Tries: Shatte 10, Lavew 29, Jordan 41, Mitchell 68 Goals: Felise 2/2, Hart 1/2 MOM: Lavea

BARLA Great Britain Lions: 25 Danny Tyrrell, 24 Paul Toole, 7 Paul Egan, 3 Gavin Corfield, 11 Carl Jones, 22 Carl Rudd, 16 Terry Lynn, 23 Scott Teare, 15 Ashley Lindsay, 13 Gavin Last, 26 Lee Wingfield, 9 Tommy Goulden (C), 1 Alex Bretherton Subs: 21 Matthew Rogers, 5 Paul Davidson, 8 Dave Goddard, 6 Mark Deans, 12 Danny Kilshaw, 17 John McMullen, 20 Paul Raftery, 18 Gary Weymes, 14 Chris Lee, 4 Lawrence Wildbore, 19 Dave Patterson, 2 Anthony Broadhead

Tries: Lynn 22, Weymes 65 Goals: Rudd 0/1, Tool 1/1 MOM: Dave Patterson

Penalty Count: 8 - 8

Referee: David Lombardo

Australia Tour 2004 Fixtures:

Game 1 - Tuesday 22nd June 10 v 22 Manly-Warringah A Grade Rep Side Manly, Sydney Kick Off: 2.30pm (BST)

Game 2 - Saturday 26th June v South West Metro Waratahs Hillier Oval, Liverpool, Sydney Kick Off: 2.30pm (BST)

Game 3 - Saturday 3rd July v Redfern All Blacks Redfern Oval, Redfern, Sydney Kick Off: 2.30pm (BST)

Game 4 - Saturday 10th July v Australian Aboriginals - TEST MATCH Kitchener Oval, Gunnedah Country, NSW Kick Off: 3.30pm (BST)

Game 5 - Wednesday 14th July v Combined North Coast Kempsey, NSW Kick Off: 3.00pm (BST)

Game 6 - Saturday 17th July v Combined Police/Corrective Services Venue TBA, Sydney Kick Off: 4.00pm (BST)