By Mike Hill
January 6 2003

Tigers beat Saracens 23-18 to end a losing run of Premiership games but still looked way short of their best form. Three tries were scored in a game Leicester dominated possession wise yet struggled to find any rhythm to their game. To concede two relatively soft tries will also worry the coaches aiming to reduce the errors that have blighted the past month. This win sees us move up the table to 4th place only four points behind Leeds. With games against all the sides above us to come, the goal of a top three finish is still very much an achievable one.

The game started badly for Leicester with Saracens full back Winnan scoring an early try when he chased and grounded a long grubber kick. That stirred the Tigers into action and a strong run by John Holtby gave them good field position. Holtby handed off two would be tacklers as he sprinted up the left flank and generally had a good all round game. A lineout ensued and Josh went over from the trade mark catch and drive.

Like Winnan before Murphy missed a difficult conversion to leave the scores level until Balding was incorrectly adjudged to be off side at a ruck. Winnan made amends and landed a further three when Tigers were punished for killing the ball minutes later to take Saracens into a six point lead at 5-11. Murphy narrowed the gap with a second successful kick as Tigers began to exert some pressure.

Sixteen phases of possession leading up to halftime should have seen Corry go over for a try but he inexplicably went inside into Richard Hill instead of outside for a certain score. The build up was impressive but the decision making squandered an overlap and Saracens led at the interval.

The third quarter of the game saw Leicester exert a lot of pressure with little reward. Murphy missed an easy thirty metre penalty and Saracens defended two attempted catch and drives. The scores were levelled to 11-11 on 56 minutes through Geordan's boot but still Saracens kept the Tigers at bay.

The arrival of West and Garforth who replaced Chuter and Jelly rejuvenated the forward effort and the pack drove remorselessly in the tight. A good spell of possession saw almost every player make a contribution before Vesty put Geordan between two forwards who then spun the ball out wide to Holtby. Holtby cut inside and Vesty was on hand again to put Ollie Smith in for his third try of the season.

Geordan missed the conversion and a further two penalties before landing a touchline conversion as Tigers finally got into gear. A solid drive by the pack gave the backs a chance to exploit some space with Ollie Smith straightening his run before feeding Leon Lloyd who scored an excellent try by beating two players to dive in the corner. Saracens were not finished however.

Spurning kickable penalties to go for a try Saracens were frustrated until a charged down Vesty clearance led to an easy try under the posts for Tim Horan. The conversion was easy and suddenly Saracens were within a converted try at 23-18. Tigers had one more opportunity to secure a fourth try and a rare bonus point but Geordan hit the touch kick too long and the chance was lost. This final mistake capped a rare miserable afternoon for the gifted Irishman which saw him land only 3 out of 7 kicks at goal.

Several players enjoyed much better games than recently and special mention must go to Leon Lloyd for a fine performance of pace and power. His hunger for the ball has returned as he has shrugged off his injury problems. The pack played well as a unit but Balding and Kronfeld in the back row were superb ably assisted by some good driving play from Jelly and Chuter.

Deciding the Man of the Match this week was easy it just has to be Josh Kronfeld for about the fourth time this season. He was immense, the driving force in the pack and always in support. After a slow, injury plagued start to his Tigers career Josh is now showing us just what it means to be an All Black legend as he is so often tagged.
Well done that man.

Next week it's back to our second defence of the Heineken Cup and the remaining two pool games that will decide our quarter final opponents (hopefully!) . For those that are making the long trip to Italy have a safe journey and I'll see you in Calvisano.