Leicester Tigers were defeated 12-69 by Loughborough Lightning in Round 2 of the 25/26 PWR Cup at Lichfield RUFC.
In the second outing of the new season for the new-look, young Tigers squad, the starting side included seven players who made their club debuts in Round 1 and one debutant in Georgie Lingham, up against a much more experienced Lightning outfit.
Leicester were put under pressure from the outset, with Loughborough getting across for their first after just two minutes.
Lightning raced to a 24-point lead, securing a bonus point for four tries, after just 15 minutes, before a runaway score in the 22nd minute extended their lead to 31 points.
Tigers were rewarded for not giving up, despite the early onslaught from the visitors, when Lingham, on debut, crashed over in the 29th minute to get Leicester on the scoreboard.
A strong defensive finish to the first half from Tigers held Loughborough out to see the sides head into the break 26 points apart, 5-31.
Lightning struck almost immediately after half-time with a try in the 41st minute followed by another just two minutes later to make it a 40-point gap, 5-45.
With the clock showing half an hour to go, Leicester worked their way into the Loughborough half and moved the ball to the left in attack where speedster Grace Deane was waiting and, after bumping off the first line of defence, weaved her way around the full-back to score a second for the home side.
Deane, who was one of twelve debutants in Round 1, joined Lingham in registering their first points in Tigers colours after joining the club in the summer.
Abileigh Priestnall converted Deane's try to make it 12-45 with less than thirty minutes remaining at Lichfield RUFC.
Leicester continued to fight, with and without the ball, but neither side was able to add to the scoreboard until the hour mark, when Lightning got over for their eighth of the afternoon and, in the next ten minutes, added three more to make it 12-69 with ten minutes remaining.
Despite the deficit, Tigers continued to fight for one another, refusing to give up on any play, and prevented Loughborough from adding to their tally during the final ten minutes, meaning it finished 12-69.
