AFTER winning the Under 15 Second Division last season, Yorkshire Lions have enjoyed a good start in the top flight of the Under 16s with three wins and a draw from their opening five games.

But the fixture at Upperthong was their toughest test so far as they faced last season’s champions – and they were beaten 6-0.

Upperthong have had a problematic start to the campaign with interruptions caused by County Cup games and several players being called up for County representative team duty – resulting in just one win and two draws to show in their efforts to challenge for a second title (before this match).

With a blustery wind, showers and a heavy pitch, the game was never going to be a classic and, in the early stages, shots on goal were rare as Ryan Cooke, Jordan Jaber, Jordan Peel and Ackeem Campbell worked hard to keep Upperthong well away from goal but, the Lions were unable to keep possession and, inevitably, Upperthong’s relentless attacking began to find a few cracks in the Lions’ defence.

A long-range Jack Sewell shot flew just over the Lions bar before a superb move started by Blane Rowan on the right ended with William Wilson crossing for Oliver Tiplady to turn, but his shot was straight into the arms of keeper Roman Halonka.

The writing was on the wall with that threat and, inevitably, Upperthong took the lead through Sewell, who planted a left-foot shot into the back of the net from a Richard Marshall left-wing cross.

The Lions finally began to make progress into the other half of the field and were unlucky not to equalise when an unmarked Gavinder Kandola was unable to stretch enough to meet an Ackeem Campbell free-kick.

Max Berry doubled the home side’s advantage on the half hour, sneaking in at the far post to head home a Tom Halton corner but, again, the Lions missed their chance to get back into the game when a Kandola half volley flew high and wide.

The Lions enjoyed their best spell of the game after the break with Levi Williams and the outstanding Ryan Waters forcing some desperate defending from defenders Max Kaye and Edward Heald but, despite their efforts, the Lions were still struggling to find a clear sight of goal.

Even when Jordan Jaber met a Manraj Bhullar left wing cross, the striker could only watch as his superb dipping shot skim the top of the Upperthong bar.

Although the Lions were now giving as much as they got, any hopes of a comeback probably disappeared when Kaye volleyed a Halton corner into the roof of the net to give the home side a comfortable 3-0 cushion.

Only the woodwork saved the visitors from going further behind as Tiplady twice hit the bar before Kandola looked certain to pull one back for the Lions, but a brilliant one-on-one save from keeper Chris Snaith denied the striker.

Having battled against the wind, rain and a strong Upperthong side, the Lions resistance was finally broken when Halton fired home a Wilson cross 10 minutes from time.

A fifth goal from Wilson and one from Marshall finished off the scoring in the last two minutes to maintain Upperthong’s title challenge.

Yorkshire Lions high hopes will have taken a knock but, they should have learned a lot from this game which will give them a yardstick on how far they need to go to challenge the top teams.