Leicester Tigers were defeated by Newcastle Red Bulls 22-29 in Round 2 of the 25/26 PREM Next Gen academy U18 league.
After a Round 1 victory over Sale Sharks, Tigers travelled north to take on Newcastle and, thanks to a double for Marcus Southwell in the first half, took a 17-10 lead into the break.
But, a dominant second half from the home team - including three successive tries - saw the home team come from behind to register a seven-point win.
The Red Bulls crossed first, in the twelfth minute, before Southwell got over for his first in the 17th minute to cut the deficit to two points, 5-7.
A Newcastle penalty extended their lead to five points, 5-10, in the 20th minute before Abdul Bah-Bah got Leicester’s second to level it up at 10-10.
On the half-hour mark, Southwell had his second, and Nathaniel Robinson converted the try to extend the lead to 17-10, which is where it remained until the half time break.
Shortly after the sides returned to the field, Newcastle got their second and converted to tie it up again at 17-17.
The Red Bulls then added two tries in eight minutes to take their lead out to twelve points, 17-29, before a late try for Leicester replacement Seva Batikora cut the difference to seven, 22-29.
TIGERS XV: 15 NATHANIEL ROBINSON, 14 ABDUL BAH-BAH, 13 OLLIE MYALL (vc), 12 HARRISON BROOKS, 11 CHRISTIAN GORDON-ASTBURY, 10 MATTHEW CLATWORTHY, 9 JAMES ALCOCK; 1 KAJETAN LEWANDOWSKI, 2 ALEX CATCHESIDE, 3 JOE EDMUNDS, 4 MACKINLEY JONES, 5 DYLAN CHESSUM (c), 6 FIN CHARLES, 7 JOSH POYSER, 8 OLIVER ROBINSON
REPLACEMENTS: 16 MARCUS SOUTHWELL, 17 TOM COURT, 18 SEVA BATIKORA, 19 ETHAN HARRISON, 20 ____, 21 MORGAN BEESE, 22 WILL LOVEDAY, 23 WILL PAYTON
