Late Fightback Not Enough as Lions Fall to Magpies

The Lions returned to Sky Stadium yesterday for the first time since the competition restart but fell just short to an electric Hawke’s Bay side.  

The visitors came racing out of the gates, shooting to a 10-0 lead within 8 minutes, a Lincoln McClutchie penalty within the opening 90 seconds followed by a traditional Hawke’s Bay try from a rolling maul, finished by captain Ash Dixon.  

Opportunities came and went both ways, until the 20th minute where Neria Fomai broke the line from an inside ball, kicking through for Jonah Lowe to finish, beating out Wes Goosen in a foot race to the line. Lincoln McClutchie then converted.  

It took until the 35th minute for the Lions to get on the board, with an Aidan Morgan penalty goal. Moments later the visitors were in again, through Lolagi Visinia, which extended the lead to 24-3 at the break. 

Wellington came out for the second half recharged and energised, going on the attack straight away. Morgan kicked his second penalty goal of the afternoon and moments later, his third to close the gap to 24-9 6 minutes in.  

Both sides had chances throughout the middle period of the second half, as Hawke’s Bay turned down points in trust of their lineout maul, where they crossed the line in the 64th minute, only for Ash Dixon to lose control of the ball. The Lions pounced on the missed opportunity from the visitors, Peter Umaga-Jensen broke the line to find Tomasi Alosio, who turned it in to Vince Aso to run in the first try of the afternoon. 

Five minutes later, the Magpies made up for their previous maul error, crashing over once again to give themselves some breathing room on the scoreboard at 31-14, and the bonus point at that time.  

Tyrone Thompson, who was playing in the loose forwards crashed over twice in the final 2 and a half minutes to earn the Lions a bonus point. Ultimately, it proved too little too late with Hawke's Bay coming out on top 31-28. 

The Lions head north to take on Bay of Plenty next Saturday afternoon in Rotorua, looking to secure their first win since the restart and keep themselves a serious contender for the Premiership semi final race.