The Under-19s England Community Lions took on Serbia Under-21s as part of their preparations for the European Championship and emerged with a 52-4 success in pitchside temperatures exceeding 40 degrees.
Head coach Gary Hewer used his full squad, giving every member decent game time ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final.
It was a fantastic start for the young Lions and they forced an error from Serbia’s first possession before skipper Devan Sharp of Wath Brow Hornets put a peach of a ball out to Siddal’s Henry Ogden after two minutes and he went over on the left.
It proved too wide out for Salford City Roosters George Jamieson to convert. Good link up play down the left saw Kells’ Sam Murtagh round his marker and zoom in.
Ogden then proved a thorn in Serbia’s side again, drawing the defence for Dalton’s Dan Knott to arrow back against the grain and extend the early advantage to 0-12.
Serbia then made a comeback when fullback Andrei Mariukovic crashed in for a try and centre Djortie Krnieta came up with several thunderous charges.
Just before the end of the first third, Roose Pioneer Tom Farren scored the Lions fourth try with a really strong drive and this time Jamieson was able to convert to make it 4-18.
At the start of the second period, Hensingham youngster Fletcher Holgate set flight from dummy half, racing away and around the fullback from forty metres. Josh Langley from Blackbrook stepped in to convert.
Then 28 minutes into the game, two quick steps from Langley saw him break free and he added his second goal to move the scoreboard to 4-30 before Millom’s Josh Blinkhorn took matters into his own hands after some solid work from his forward pack and Jamieson goaled.
Waterhead’s Marcus Geener enjoyed a solid game in the centres and showed excellent pace to score from 40 metres, although Serbia did enough to keep him wide and the conversion from Jamieson went wide, but that score meant the Lions led 4-40 as the game entered its third period.
The hosts were much improved in the final third, but an attractive move to the left saw the Lions break away as Keane Elms of Blackbrook sent club team-mate Langley streaming upfield and he ran in his second for Jamieson to add the goal.
Then five minutes from the end, the Lions used a long open side from a scrum and Jamieson sent Murtagh diving through for his second score for Jamieson to complete his four goal haul.
The Lions will face Ukraine in the European Championship semi-final after they defeated Serbia 24-4.
Following the game, Lions captain Sharp said: “They were an eager team, you can’t take nothing away from them, they gave it their all, but I think as far as skill goes, I think we were the better team on the day. I thought we executed a lot of things as we should have, but there was a lot of areas where we should have cleaned up, which definitely need work for the next game.”
Lions squad: Josh Langley (Blackbrook), Jacob Haigh (Siddal), Sam Murtagh (Kells), Henry Ogden (Siddal), Dan Knott (Dalton), George Jamieson (Salford Roosters), Devan Sharp (Wath Brow), Alfie Hough (Hindley), Josh Blinkhorn (Millom), Miller Dalton (Hensingham), Keane Elms (Blackbrook), Ben Metcalfe (Rochdale Mayfield), Tom Farren (Roose Pioneers), Harry Barker (Waterhead), Joe Lewis (Siddal), Josh Hopkins (Leigh East), Scott Simmons (Pilkington Recs), Fletcher Holgate (Hensingham), Marcus Geener (Waterhead), Jack Lawler (West Hull).
Serbia U21s: Andrei Mariukovic, Aleksa Zivojinovic, Lazar Bustic, Djortie Krnieta, Bosko Todorovic, Aleksa Radolcovic, Marko Jakoulievic, Velibor Karanovic, Mihailo Tomic, Marco Milicevic, Luka Ilic, Strakinja Stojilikovic, Enis Bibic, Dusan Verinic, Uros Stanojevic, Vladimir Dinic, Strahinja Milankovic.
