Lions go inches from a result as they are downed by Kiwis
JERMAINE McGillvary saw a result snatched from his grasp as Great Britain suffered a heartbreaking defeat.
The winger looked certain to dive over at the corner to at least make the scores 12-12 as Wayne Bennett’s men attempted to overturn at 12-2 deficit.
But Kenny Bromwich put his body on the line to dislodge the ball and make sure New Zealand came out on top at Eden Park, Auckland.
And in truth a poor performance, which lacked spark and zip for almost 70 minutes, meant the Lions were downed again.
Bennett shuffled his pack, partly through necessity because of injuries to Oliver Gildart and Luke Thompson, but Jonny Lomax came in for Lachlan Coote at full-back.
It was certainly bruising down the middle as both sides’ packs hammered into each other as Kiwi star Kieran Foran’s big international return lasted little longer than five minutes as he suffered a dislocated shoulder.
John Bateman revealed the Lions only had one proper training session and the team run before the 14-6 loss to Tonga.
It started better as Gareth Widdop’s penalty cancelled out Jamayne Isaako’s but there were few breaks in the opening half.
Jonny Lomax’s flick almost put McGillvary over while New Zealand started to cut loose as half-timed loomed but no-one crossed the line.
Then on 48 minutes, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck’s skill saw him beat Elliott Whitehead and Alex Walmsley and throw a sensational offload for Isaako to go over.
A lucky escape saw Briton Nikora’s effort after Britain failed to deal with Benji Marshall’s kick ruled out because of a knock-on.
Bennett’s men had to kick on but again they were nervously watching the screen as Corey Harawira-Naera powered through four tacklers – this time there was no let-off.
Great Britain had to push it, even if it meant more risk of conceding. James Graham attempted to provide something by squaring up to Joseph Tapine but the Kiwis were equally fired up.
Finally, that spark arrived on 67 minutes when Ryan Hall was stopped just short before Daryl Clark dived over the line seconds later.
Suddenly, Britain had hope and had McGillvary found Zak Hardaker on his inside, the turnaround may have been complete.
The Huddersfield man went even closer with three minutes left but Bromwich had other ideas.
