Championship Talk: Lions roaring under Littler

CHAMPIONSHIP TALK

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Lions roaring under Littler

SWINTON Lions’ remarkable revival continues apace.

       

Going into this year’s Summer Bash in mid-May, Stuart Littler’s side had chalked up just two wins despite pushing teams like Toulouse and Halifax to the wire.

       

At half-time in Blackpool the Lions trailed 30-14 to bottom club Rochdale.

       

But a stirring second half comeback saw Littler’s men emerge 40-30 winners in what now looks to be the major turning point in their season.

       

It started a run of five wins and a draw from eight matches - top five form - with the latest eye-catching result a 34-all draw at Bradford on Sunday in a game that the Lions led for much of the game.

       

That sequence has also included a stunning win in Toulouse, and now means that they are six points clear of the relegation zone going into this weekend’s crucial clash with Barrow Raiders.

       

The Lions aren’t yet mathematically assured of their Championship status but another win should do it, and they have already started retaining their key players for 2020.

       

Among those have been prop Gavin Bennion and winger or full-back Matty Ashton, who have both been revelations this season.

       

Bennion offered an insight into the Lions’ recent success this week in the wake of their Bradford draw.

       

“It’s a really close group of good lads and we’ve got something special,” Bennion said.

       

“We’ve had some really tough games recently and to beat Toulouse away, Batley at home and then to go and draw away at Bradford is a great achievement for us group of boys and it shows how hard we work for each other.”

       

Off the club the field is making great strides too, with crowds up at their Heywood Road base, commercial activity increasing and their media and social media output as good as a number of Super League clubs.

       

It could all have been so different had the Lions lost last year’s convoluted play-off with League One Workington, which preserved their Championship status at the eleventh hour.

       

But the club has grabbed that second chance with both hands, and now look certainties to stay in the Championship with a good chance of kicking on again.

       

Coach Littler, chairman Andy Mazey and the club’s board of directors deserve immense credit for keeping faith with their beliefs, something that has begun to pay rich dividends.