By ANDREW JACKSON

SKOLARS fought back against a Lions side sitting second in the league but were always trailing after the visitors scored five times in the first half hour.

That 30-point deficit came despite Swinton having to travel in cars to the game after their coach didn’t show up. Any effects of that disrupted journeye didn’t show as they kept attacking down their right in the early stages.
The first try came after Mike Butt passed inside to Max Roberts, who then drew the defence and offloaded back to the
winger. Another attack down the right flank saw Mitchell Cox run round Jerome Yates to score and two minutes later
Lewis Else broke the defence for Jaydon Hatton to touchdown. They then benefitted from a six again set and this time
Roberts finished off himself.
They were queuing up to make breaks to the point where they were twice penalised for crossing. That gave Skolars a rare chance for an attack, with a good run. Swinton did well to get the ball out of the in-goal area after a Phil Lyon kick with Butt making it to the 40 metre line before being stopped. When Dan Abram finished off Matt Wilkinson’s break from Swinton’s half, his fifth conversion saw his side scoring at a point a minute.
A relieving penalty saw Skolars push the ball out to the left for Aaron Small to force his way over. The introduction of Neil Thorman, back with Skolars on dual registration from Broncos, saw more shape to their attacks and he created their second try with a delayed pass to Abevia McDonald who scored out wide, though his goal kicking radar wasn’t on target after taking over the duties from Lyon.
Skolars closed the gap further after the break, Small scoring his second try after they had forced a goal-line drop out. The Lions responded with Paddy Jones first barging his way over under the posts, then adding a second when he just managed to get the ball over the line despite the efforts of the defenders surrounding him.
Having varied their kick-offs without success, London finally won possession from a restart when Lyon’s restart found
touch. However, they couldn’t take advantage and Swinton attacked again, having a try disallowed for crossing. The
penalty count weighed heavily against the visitors, an unusual event for a side winning reasonably comfortably.
Phil Lyon raced to the pavilion end after making an intercept from his own half, Thorman’s kick hitting the post. Lyon then put in a high kick which was fumbled by the defence and Skolars moved the ball out for McDonald to score his second try of the afternoon.
The ball rarely reached Swinton’s left side during the game, so Richard Lepori wasn’t going to miss out when he
supported Butt’s break from just inside his own half. Dan Abram rounded off a perfect goal kicking game for him with his eighth successful kick, with the hooter sounding before the game could restart.
LONDON SKOLARS
1 Jerome Yates
2 Abevia McDonald
3 Reece Rance
4 Aaron Small
5 Leighton Ball
6 Will Ramsey
7 Phil Lyon
8 Judd Greenhalgh
9 Jonathan Bell
10 Harry Kaufman
11 Luciano Bejanidze
12 Lameck Juma
13 Liam O’Callaghan
Subs (all used)
16 Neil Thorman
22 Anthony Cox
21 Kojo Korang
15 Sam Wellings
Tries: Small (35,45), McDonald (37)70,) Lyon (63)
Goals: Lyon 0/1, Thorman 1/4
LIONS
1 Dan Abram
5 Richard Lepori
28 Jayden Hatton
4 Max Roberts
2 Mike Butt
6 Lewis Else
13 Nick Gregson
16 Louis Brogan
30 George Roby
10 Lewis Hatton
11 Rhodri Lloyd
12 Mitch Cox
25 Lewis Charnock
Subs (all used)
14 Matt Wilkinson
23 Jordan Case
27 Jack Spencer
18 Paddy Jones
Tries: Butt (6), Cox (15), J Hatton (17), Roberts (20), Abram (29), Jones (50.55), Lepori (79)
Goals: Abram 8/8
Penalty count: 11-5
Half-time: 24-6
Referee: Keith Moore
Att: 286
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-12, 0-18, 0-24, 0-30, 4-30, 8-30; 14-30, 14-36, 14-42, 18-42, 22-42, 22-48