MALVERN'S form on the road this season had been abysmal - until Saturday at Westleigh Park, where England skipper Martin Johnson learned to ply his rugby trade.

LEICESTER LIONS 18pts, MALVERN 29pts

Acting skipper Shaun Lancett had fired up his troops for this game and led from the front in what was a sometimes torrid and ill-tempered encounter. Lancett endeared himself to the home crowd from the tenth minute as he meted out some rough justice to a Lions player who tried to take out George Blakeway. Indeed, from then on he was the object of the crowd's affections so much that he is thinking of changing his name from Lancett to "Number 20"!

Lions had gone ahead with a penalty, playing down the slope and with the wind, Richard Fleming responding in kind after an incident, which saw the Lions right winger sin-binned. Malvern looked good, the returning centres Mark Eastwood and Gareth Richards tackled like fury and denied Lions much progress in midfield. Dave King's rugby league heritage also showed as he smothered several back row breaks.

Indeed, Malvern's tackling was probably the best of the season, denying Lions a platform and keeping them behind the gain line. The set scrums were fairly steamy, especially between the front rows, Lancett again being adjudged the villain by the fairly voluble home crowd. He didn't appear to care, going off on a burst, which saw him link up with Eastwood, who in turn set Irish on a run up the wing, his deft chip ahead taking Malvern deep into home territory.

Leicester cleared their lines, but Richard Fleming, growing in confidence, went on a run through the Lions defence and was brought down a couple of metres short of the line. The referee saw a Lions hand illegally straying where it shouldn't and Malvern were awarded a 17th minute penalty try, which Sam Hardcastle converted.

This gave Leicester Lions a wake-up call and they started to take more advantage of the slope and wind, kicking for territory and playing it tight, sucking in the Malvern defence until scrum half Greg Fry nipped in to score in the 23rd minute. Chris Jackson had the misfortune to be consigned to the sin bin on the half-hour, purportedly for pulling the scrum round and in his absence Lions piled on the pressure, taking the lead from a driving maul which saw Jamie Tyers touch down.

Malvern turned round only three points down and with the considerable advantage of the elements, but were shaken by another drive over on 42 minutes, Dave Macmillan scoring.

Lancett roused his troops and they responded by stepping up the pace. The back row of Nick Smith, Andy Ridley and Ben Cheeseman, who had replaced Jackson, showed their mobility and Eastwood's class simply oozed with his strength and pace gaining valuable yardage for the visitors. Ironside and Chris Smith controlled the lineout whilst Lancett, Irish and Daniel began to win the front row tussle.

Malvern camped in the Lions 22 metre area for long periods, stretching their defence and forcing a series of penalties, resulting in the tight head picking up the third yellow card of the day. The breakthrough finally came when Eastwood shrugged off the attentions of several Lions defenders to stride through and score, Fleming's conversion taking Malvern to within a point of the Westleigh Park side.

It was now all Malvern, wave after wave of attacks threatening to swamp a game Lions defence, who somehow stemmed the tide for 10 minutes. Cooper came on for Daniel and added his bulk and guile to the scrum. In the 70th minute the full back, Groves, flattened Blakeway after the ball had gone and was despatched by the referee's red card.

Sam Hardcastle moved to scrum half and Andy Isaac came on to the left wing. Hardcastle had won a chase to touch down but the referee gave Lions the benefit of the doubt.

Lions fielded a Malvern kick deep in their own territory but Eastwood pounced and ripped the ball back and it was shipped out to Rob Young who tore through to take back the lead with a minute of normal time left. The win was rubber-stamped when Irish won against the head, Cooper claiming an assist, four minutes into injury time and Young again sped in, Fleming converting with the most difficult kick of the day. Lancett led his jubilant team off the field with two invaluable away points in the bag.

Director of Rugby David Robins, all smiles after the match, was delighted with a gritty performance, praising the hunger of the pack and the expansive game played by the backs, whilst keeping the midfield buttoned up with tremendous tackling from the back row.

"We left it late, but proved we are an 80 minute team. This game was an enormous test of our character and resolve, especially for the young students in the side, and every single player out there came through with flying colours. We needed to win today, the players knew it and responded magnificently. They are an example to others in the club, really wanting to play and sticking to the task without complaint.

"We really benefited from the return of Gareth Richards and Mark Eastwood, Nick Smith was non-stop action and Rob Young took his scoring chances as only he can. Shaun Lancett has deputised for skipper Vince Hill in an inspired way over the last five weeks. We now face Bromsgrove at home and will be asking the team for another big performance at Spring Lane this coming Saturday at 2.30pm."