Lions hold off spirited Kings

Cape Town - The Golden Lions on Saturday beat the EP Kings 37-21 in their Currie Cup clash at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.

The hosts led 27-14 at the break and with the four-try bonus point already in the bag, they appeared to take their foot off the pedal as the Kings came back strong in the second period.

Trailing only 27-21 in the latter stages, the Kings sniffed victory but the Lions kept them at bay to close the game out.

With the win, the Lions moved to the top of the standings ahead of the Blue Bulls, while the win-less Kings lie second from bottom.

In next weekend's action, the Lions travel to Pretoria to tackle the Bulls, while the Kings host the Free State Cheetahs in Port Elizabeth.

Scorers:

Golden Lions:

Tries: Penalty try, Kwagga Smith, Stokkies Hanekom, Stephan de Wit, Ruan Combrinck

Conversions: Jaco van der Walt (2), Marnitz Boshoff

Penalties: Van der Walt, Boshoff

Eastern Province Kings:

Tries: Siyanda Grey, Paul Schoeman (2)

Conversions: Karlo Aspeling (3)

Teams:

Golden Lions:

15. Andries Coetzee, 14. Ruan Combrinck, 13. Stokkies Hanekom, 12. Howard Mnisi (captain), 11. Anthony Volmink, 10. Jaco van der Walt, 9. Lohan Jacobs, 8. Fabian Booysen, 7. Kwagga Smith, 6. Stephan de Wit, 5. Martin Muller, 4. MB Lusaseni, 3. Julian Redelinghuys, 2. Malcolm Marx, 1. Jacques van Rooyen

Substitutes: 16. Robbie Coetzee, 17. Ruan Dreyer, 18. Lourens Erasmus, 19. Jano Venter, 20. Ricky Schroeder, 21. Marnitz Boshoff, 22. Jacques Nel

Eastern Province Kings:

15 Hansie Graaff, 14 Siyanda Grey, 13 Ronnie Cooke, 12 Tim Whitehead (captain), 11 Sylvian Mahuza, 10 Karlo Aspeling, 9 Dwayne Kelly, 8 Paul Schoeman, 7 Stefan Willemse, 6 Thembelani Bholi, 5 Cameron Lindsay, 4 Tazz Fuzani, 3 Simon Kerrod, 2 Edgar Marutlulle, 1 Lizo Gqoboka.

Substitutes: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Basil Short, 18 Cornell Hess, 19 Eital Bredenkamp, 20 Enrico Acker, 21 Elgar Watts, 22 JP du Plessis