By Adam Hunter

It was agony at the death for the second successive home match for Bournemouth as they lost 16-17 to Leicester Lions.

The Dorset side were hoping to celebrate captain Joe Rees’s 150th league appearance for the club, and looked to have snatched a second victory of the season when scrum-half Grant Hancox - reliable as ever with four kicks from four - landed a penalty with five minutes remaining to put his team 16-14 in the lead.

But poor discipline opened the door for the visitors to sneak in at the stroke of time. Camped on their own line, the Bournemouth scrum creaked as Leicester Lions repeatedly opted not to kick for the posts from a wide position. A penalty miss and unsuccessful drop-goal attempt from stand-off Ben Young looked to have let the hosts off the hook, but when a third opportunity came around in the last play of the game, Young made no mistake, landing the winning penalty.

The game began in disastrous fashion for Bournemouth as they went 0-8 down inside five minutes, a penalty from Young followed swiftly by a try in the corner for Leicester Lions wing Kaz Henderson after defensive mistakes.

But the home team rallied and dominated possession and territory for the remainder of the half, a Hancox penalty the only other action on the scoreboard in a fractious first period. The high tackle that led to the penalty could easily have seen Leicester Lions reduced to fourteen players, and further off-the-ball incidents eventually saw their flanker George Turner sent to the bin on twenty-four minutes.

Half-time was called with the score 3-8.

Another Young penalty after the break took Leicester Lions to and eight point lead before magical interplay between centres Scott Chislett and Freddie Gleadowe saw the latter score his fifth try of the season on the hour, with Hancox’s conversion taking the score to 10-11.

The teams exchanged penalties and Leicester Lions were reduced to fourteen once again, with wing Devon Constant binned for slowing ball with his side under intense pressure. Shortly before he returned Hancox landed the penalty that put his team in front, only for the cruel finish to devastate the home fans.

Bournemouth Performance Director Richard Sharp didn’t try to hide his disappointment after the full-time whistle, but sees many positives for his youthful team.

“Obviously we are heartbroken to lose in the last play of the game by one point,” he said.

“It’s a tough one to swallow. But the young boys will be gaining huge experience from these games. The whole pack played really well against a more experienced Leicester unit.”

Unforced errors played their part once again for Bournemouth, as they failed to turn the screw after scoring points.

“We would score and then not restart properly which kept us under pressure and kept Leicester in the game,” said Sharp.

Results elsewhere were not kind to Bournemouth, with near rivals Westcliff and next week’s opponents Sutton & Epsom both taking points to open a six point gap at the bottom.

But Sharp remains confident that his team has what it takes to catch them and survive in National Two South for another season.

“We look forward to S&E next week. If we keep putting in these performances the wins will come and staying in National Two is absolutely achievable,” he said.

With Mike Pope taking over as Head Coach after the departure of club stalwart Jon Sanchez - a second change at the top in what has been a tumultuous season - the players must now adapt once more, and will need to draw inspiration from the rampant support of the home fans.

Sharp added, “It was great to hear the Chapel Gate crowd getting behind the boys, and to see Jon in the stand with a pint. It was a fantastic game to watch, especially if you are a neutral!”