L I O N S 2 0 1 2

u12s Castleford Panthers 10 Featherstone Lions 12  150111

"Team work brings home the spoils in a all round great defensive performance"


The young lions lead by captain Reiss Butterworth gave a brilliant winning display of defense under pressure in a tense local derby away to rivals Castleford Panthers to go top of the table

Lions worked the marker well in the opening stages closing down anything that moved with Ryan Butterworth, Jack Swain and big forward Alex Proctor to the fore of things

With 2 new players making their way back to the team in Levi Johnson and Tom Mynett with all round solid performance by the pair with some massive hits by young Levi and some fine tackles shawing up the defense with Mynett helping the cause.

With nothing to split the sides in the 1st Half with a few Lions handling errors aiding castleford to go up 4-0 with 12mins gone

The Lions never say die attitude just before the break sticking to their game plan worked their way up field with opponents MOM Reiss Matisiak
leading by example with some blockbusting runs along side Clayton Bedford and Kyleb Taylor making good yards.

Setting the plateform for the workhorse Ryan Butterworth to spot the gap and crash through from 10yrds out to tie the Scores 4-4 on the 19th minute

After the break some fine tackles by Ashley Ward, Brett Holderness, Luke France and Josh Haller kept Cas at bay before their quick handling finally worked its way through the lions strong defense 10-4

The Lions looking strong in all departments came back again with quick hands through Reiss Butterworth, Jack Swain and Ryan Butterworth setting up big powerhouse Reece Matisiak to crash his way over from 15 yards out 10-8 on the 30 minutes mark

The Lions holding strong with the wind against them with Leo Harrison, Harley Wilkinson and Zack Burke putting in some fine runs to set up Reiss Butterworth on a storming 50yrd run before being tackled and turning over,  before Castleford lost possesion under the lions ferociuos tackling for quick thinking Reiss Butterworth to regather and crash over to win the game with 3 minutes on the clock left

MOM award went to all the Team for a defensive display second to none, The Lions will after be on their best to take on local rivals Normanton in the Continuation cup this coming saturday KO tbc




Pictured is the u12s Featherstone Lions team members showing their joy after winning a close "top of Table" clash to go top of the League against local rivals Castleford Panthers in a nail biting 12-14 score line that illustrates what a great game, Rugby League is about, with both sides given credit for some great defense and attack with Lions "never say die" Spirit taking them on to take the win in the dieing seconds, that bolds well for the future of the game at junior Level!



u12s report Featherstone Lions 54 Newsome Panthers 0 161010

Lions dominate the game from start to finish

The young Lions playing a weakened team of only 13 players dominated this game from the off with Alex Proctor leading the way in the Lions forwards with Rhys Matisiak and Clayton Bedford at his side as the enforcers!

Lions losing possession early on quickly bounced back with some fierce tackling with Reiss Butterworth and Kaleb Taylor in the thick of things before a Jack Swain break the full length of the field leading to a clever offload to his man outside Ashley Ward to capitalise with a great try outwide 4-0

Next up was Jack Swain stepping his way through 3 defenders to cut inside to score after being fed the ball by Reiss Butterworth with the later converting 10-0

With the Lions pressing close upstepped reiss Butterworth to send a clever chip outwide for hardworking Zack Burke to gather an crash over 14-0

With Lions looking unstopable with probing runs by Ryan Butterworth and Josh Haller Reiss ButterButterworth saw the gap to cut inside to score with Rhys Matisiak conversion 20-0

The Lions forwards making good ground with a storming run by Lions Alex Proctor to set up for Rhys Matisiak to crash over from 20yds with Reiss Butterworth goal to complete 26-0

The Lions still fresh went close with Jack Swain gaining the momentum before Reiss Butterworth spotting the gap to send over Ashley Ward with a clever chip through 30-0 before the break

Lions came out with determination to nil their opponents after the break with some crunching tackles by Proctor and Bedford, before Jack Swain set off on a 60 yds run to the line through good work by Josh Haller and Reiss Butterworth setting him on his way through the gap to score a
blistering try 34-0

Lions came up the middle again with young Kaleb Taylor crossing but deemed not to have grounded before Reiss Butterworth scoots his way over from acting half slicing through the oppenents like butter! 38-0

With the Lions putting in the graft through Zack Burke and big runs by Alex Proctor setting the stage for Ryan Butterworth to crash through the line from close 42-0

Next the try of the game with again Proctor and Bedford doing the spade work for good hands by Rhys Matisiak, & Reiss Butterworth combining to set up Jack Swain for his hatrick try with reiss Butterworth goal 48-0

To finish the game Reiss Butterworth using his silky skills to send the opponents the other way cut and stepped through 4 defenders on his way to collect his hatrick of the game with Ryan Butterworth goal to complete the route with Newsome giving the game up with 12 mins left to play!

The Travis Perkins Awards Winners were:- joint MOM: Proctor/Swain/Butterworth/Matisiak Most Improved: Ashley Ward




u12s Featherstone Lions 32 Churwell 20 091010

The young Lions thought they were to have it easy against a game Churwell side who had come to upset the odds !

With the 1st 10-15 minutes going all Lions way with 1st try going to the big running MOM Rhys Matisiak storming his way up field to score with Reiss Butterworth conversion 6-0

Next up was the latter Reiss Butterworth to jink his way back inside to the open gap to score from 20yds out converted by Ryan Butterworth 12-0

The Lions sensing all they had to do was turn up quickly went off their well drilled plans opting to play one man rugby costing them dear as Churwell
came back through some woefull tackling from the Lions failing to get up and close their opponents down, the away team came back with 2 well taken tries making it 12-10 before Lions rallied with Reiss Butterworth opting to slice through the gap to score with Ryan Butterworth goal to make it 18-12 before once again the Lions let themselves down lacking in concentration in defence for Churwell to add the final score of the 1st Half to make it 18-16 at the break

Lions to their credit pushed further ahead in the 2nd Half but still failed to utilise their superior back line to good effect, missing 3-4 chances of certain tries opting to cut back inside on the one man rugby route of things with Rhys Matisiak crashing over for his 2nd try 22-16 and then late on in the game for Reiss Butterworth to chip over for the alert Ashley Ward to pounce on and score a killer try 28-16 with only 10 minutes remaining with conversion by Rhys Matisiak

3 minutes later Reiss Butterworth went through the tired opponents defense to further the Lions Lead to 32-16 before the last minute of time the Lions let Churwell finish on a high again through a weakened defensive line out wide to make it a repectable 32-20 win for the Lions

Some fine tackling was done by Lions forwards of Rhys Matisiak, Clayton Bedford, with some good yards from Alex Proctor and offloads from Harvey Farrar with the Lions back line of Reiss Butterworth probing the gaps and Ashley Ward, Luke France and steadfast play by fullback Zach Burke stopping some sure on tries in defense

The Lions still need to ship the ball out wide which will cost them dear against better opponents

The Travis Perkins Awards Winners were:- MOM (joint): Rhys Matisiak/
Zach Burke Best Tackler: Reiss Butterworth Runner up Clayton Bedford

The Lions play Newsome Panthers this coming weekend 10:30am KO at the Millpond, Featherstone



u12s report Drighlington 18 Featherstone Lions 32 Lions go top of the League ! 021010

The young Lions came of age in this top of League clash!

Lead by big Rhys Matisiak punching holes through the opponents line with some fierce Lions tackling by the big front 3 of Alex Proctor, Ryan Butterworth and Rhys Matisiak stopping the Leeds outfit in their tracks

The Lions were on top of their game from the off and were unlucky to go behind after a opening play with the lions camped in the opponents
half with strong runs by Clayton Bedford and Josh Haller setting the plateform for waves of attacking play by their dynamic duo of Reiss Butterworth and Jack Swain before a interception try went against them 6-0 10min mark

The Lions came back strong with heads held high attacking and pinning the Drighlington side in their own half before ragaining possesion and working their way to the line before Rhys Matisiak went storming over from 10 yds with Conversion by Reiss Butterworth to tie the score 6-6

After the replay the Lions chased their opponents down forcing the error to regather and set the attack with Reiss Butterworth opting to cut inside to dart over from 15yds with his own conversion 6-12 with the lions in full flow

The Lions coming through the middle with some fine scoots from their back line of Kaleb Taylor, Christy Harte and powerhouse Zach Burke gaining them valuable ground leading to strong running prop Clayton Bedford crashing over with Zach Burke converting 6-18 just before the break.

After the break the Lions came out strong again sadly leading to one of their opponents having to leave the field of play through a suspected broken collarbone causing a 20min delay.

After the restart the Lions set up the try of the game with their forwards Alex Proctor going 20yds with Clayton Bedford then sucking in the defense before Jack Swain swift pass to the supporting Reiss Butterworth to unleash Rhys Matisiak on a 30yd gallop to give a clever offload to the supporting Riess Butterforth to speed his way to the line 6-24 with Ryan Butterworth goal

The Lions getting complacement let Drighlington in a lack of concentration and a couple of decisions going against them for their opponents to come back to 12-24 before the Lions again using their creative backline leading to fast paced Ashley Ward going over at the corner 12-28

The Lions aided by their backs of Luke France taking a pressure High ball and working away before a decision went against the lions letting the opponents in to 18-28 with 2 mins remaining before the Lions came back strong for hard running second row Alex Proctor crashing over out wide to end the game on a high final score 18-32 to take the Lions to the top of the league.

The Travis Perkins Awards Winners were:-
MOM: Rhys Matisiak Best Tackler: Jack Swain (x16) Most Improved: Alex Proctor






New Earswick 10 Featherstone Lions 24 200910

"Big Clayton plays a blinder"

Featherstone Lions dominated the 1st Half of this game through some storming runs by newcomer Clayton Bedford setting the example in hard yards

The young Lions showed commitment to task in the 1st half with there forwards of Clayton Bedford, Ryan Butterworth and big Rhys Matisiak setting the plateform for their half backs Reiss Butterworth and Jack Swain to shine distributing the ball well and Butterworth to show off his sublime kicking skills on the attack

1st try went to Lions on the 5minute mark when Rhys Matisiak went crashing over from 10 yrds out with the conversion by Reiss Butterworth 0-6

With the Lions backs taking some of the hard work off the forwards with Harley Wilkinson, Christy Harte and Leo Harrison(most improved award) gaining some impressive yards before Reiss Butterworth set Jack Swain up on a darting run to the line to make it 0-10 to the Lions

The York side came back through the middle, before the Lions regathered through forcing the error by some crunching tackles by Kaleb Taylor and Reiss Butterworth being in the thick of things leading to the Lions camped on the opponents line before Reiss Butterworth found his way over out wide 0-14 with missed conversion

Just before the break with Lions in total command, Rhys Matisiak having a fine game went crashing through 4 players to
score 0-18 Halftime

The second half with the young Lions thinking they had all but won it, went off their game plan playing too much one man rugby
opting to turn it inside again and again costing them valuable scoring opportunities in the process with a refreshed New earswick side playing well causing the Lions to lose ground from their own mistakes putting in 2 trys an a goal to bring the game to 10-18 before the Lions regrouped late on for Rhys Matisiak to finish the game on a high scoring his hatrick on a copy book run to the line with conversion by Reiss Butterworth

The Lions back line of Luke France, Ashley Ward, Josh Haller, Brett Holderness and Ross Clayton did well with the limited supply of ball, which when they get they make the most of, something that the Lions will have to address against upcoming opponents if they are to have a tilt on the division!


The Travis Perkins Awards Winners were:-
MOM(joint): Clayton Bedford/Rhys Matisiak Best Tackler: Kaleb Taylor Most Improved: Leo Harrison Magic Moment: Reiss Butterworth

The Lions play top plaved Driglington away this weekend were they are going to have to improve and be on top form if they are to have any chance of winning




Featherstone Lions 18 Methley 4 200910

A much improved performance was had by all the Lions team to dominate this game from start to finish

Lead by there packmen of Harvey Farrar, Zack Burke, Clayton Bedford and big running Alex Proctor setting the examples in the middle missing key man Ryan Butterworth due to injury, the Lions played the basics right with Captain Reiss Butterworth and Jack Swain setting the plays well to utilise their speedy backs of Kaleb Taylor, Ashley Ward, Ross Clayton, Leo Harrison and the inform Harley Wilkinson to good effect outwide

With Lions pressure working well the alert Reiss Butterworth spotting the gap for a clever chip over the defense for a superbly taken ball by fast paced Luke France to crash over the whitewash 4-0 with 3 minutes gone to also take one of the magic Moment awards.

With Methley in a state of shock as to how good the Lions were the Lions battled their way up field with Josh Haller and Benjamin Whiteley to the fore to set up big running forward Clayton Bedford to crash over, taking 3 men with him to the line off a great Harvey Farrar offload, close range to the Methley line to take the 2nd Magic Moment award. 10-0 with Reiss Butterworth Goal

After the break Lions came strong again with some fine scoots from acting half by their backs of Christy Harte and Brett Holderness, making god yards for the dynamic duo of Swain and Butterworth to open the opponents line up with the latter stepping through to score a killer try outwide 14-0 before the away side got on the score board with 5mins remaining 14-4

The Lions battling to the end with a professional approach to kill the game off lead by instrumental Swain, Farrar and big Reiss Matysiak leading to Reiss Butterworth cutting through the defense to score from close range. 18-4

A fine example of the basics played well and how to kill a game off by the u12's.

Travis Perkins award winners were joint MOM, Reiss Butterworth/Jack Swain. Best Tackler: Alex Proctor. Magic Moment: Clayton Bedford/Luke France. Most Improved: Kaleb Taylor