Lions stage comeback victory

The Wainuiomata Lions staged a huge comeback to defeat Whiti Te R ki taki 14-12 in their Wellington Rugby League premier 1 match at Frederick Wise Park on 10 June.

The victory lifted the Lions to second place on the table.

Whiti Te R came to play, scoring two tries in the first seven minutes to take a 12-0 lead, a lead they held at the half time break.

The Lions dug deep and tried to level the scores, but two disallowed tries saw them trailing at the break.

Wainuiomata came out roaring in the second half with an early try from half back Tumua Leafa which was set up by Co-Captain John Tahana.

Whiti continued to play a strong game, however the Lions were able to score another try by inform John Tahana. The unsuccessful conversion saw Whiti still in the lead 12-10.

Whiti tried to bounce back as the Lions made some costly errors but the home team was able to dig deep and defend back to back sets on their try line.

The last five minutes of the game was an arm wrestle before the experienced Marvin Karawana saw an opportunity on the last set of the match with a kick 45 meters from the Lions line and support winger

Simeona Saumolia darted away for the Lions’ third try to take them to their 14-12 victory.

John Tahana Wharepapa Rawiri had an outstanding game for the