Two well-taken and expansive tries saw Lindenwood break away from Life to win the second Mid-South game between the two Saturday.
Played at Lindenwood’s Hunter Stadium, the game was contested in cold weather with a swirling wind. Both teams wanted to play in the other team’s end but the breeze had a bit of say in that. Both teams wanted to dominate the point of contact, but the opposition had a bit of a say in that, too.
Early on, then, there was plenty of kicking, with Life flyhalf Bradley Crane trying to get his side out of trouble, and Lindenwood scrumhalf Matteo Peignon unleashing some very effective box kicks.
And it was a kick and chase that produced the first try. A very good box kick out of trouble from Peignon put the Life fielders under pressure and eventually a penalty for not releasing set up Peignon to tap quickly and snake over.
The wind blew the ball off the kicking tee but Peignon managed to get it back on the tee and kick the ball over from a tough angle in time.
Life battled on and tried to unleash their outside backs. The Lindenwood defense, however, was comfortably able to keep them contained. In the end it was a penalty and lineout that led to Life’s points. The Running Eagles set up the maul and it was dragged down by the Lions. Penalty, warning, and another lineout-and-maul. The maul was pulled down again and referee Amelia Luciano had no hesitation in giving the penalty try and a yellow card to lock Eduan Van Heerden.
Unfazed, Lindenwood went right down the field to threaten the Life line. Wing Tyren Al-Jiboori bulled his way through traffic, but when he went to ground to score the try, a Life University body was under. Chances did go begging. Peignon missed a drop goal attempt soon thereafter and later a penalty attempt also. As the half progressed, Life had an excellent chance as they ran some quick interior players to get close to the line.
That ended with a ball lost forward, and Life Head Coach said, “that was partly about guys getting away from their roles. If everyone had just done his job we probably would have scored.”
So the half ended 7-7.
In the second half it remained 7-7 even as the momentum changed. With the wind now, Life was able to pin Lindenwood in their 22. The Running Eagles got close and had some excellent chances off penalties. This included a maul that was stopped just before the line, and another halted to give Lindenwood the scrum.
And yet it all remained deadlocked.
