RYAN Lomas was delighted to score his first Rams’ try in the 54-29 victory over Leicester Lions – avoiding any possible forfeit come the end of the season.

The former Ireland Under 20s prop came off the bench inside the opening quarter and produced a superb performance, one of three forwards along with Tom Vooght and Max Hayman to cross the whitewash via the maul before half-time.

With Fraser Honey converting two and Luke Bouchier a penalty for Lions it was 19-3 at the break, Rams securing the bonus-point straight after the interval as Nile Dacres also grabbed his maiden try.

Leicester hit back through Aaron Pope and George Pearson, but a key Tomek Pozniak score was followed by an Axel Kalling-Smith interception as the hosts moved 40-15 in front.

Lions kept battling and Pope doubled his tally, replacement Tom Threlfall with the extras, but Zach Clow’s brilliant brace and the boot of Honey took Rams past their half century, Isaac Thompson touching down for a Leicester bonus at the death.

Victory in the centenary game made it five National One wins from five, and Ryan was pleased to reward a bumper crowd of 1,175 as well as getting off the scoring mark himself.

He explained: “It was a good win and the atmosphere was fantastic – people were coming into the ground during the warm-up and you could just feel the energy.

“When I got onto the pitch early to head the ‘woos’ and cheers was just great.

“I’m excited to get my first try because it means I don’t have to do any kind of forfeit at the end of the year!”

With the pack having laid the foundations for victory, the Irishman continued: “Credit to our guys, but also the opposition because they were very strong. We had to front up to their pack which then allowed our backs to take it away later on.

“There were a few nerves right to the end, but we managed to get it done.”

Next up is a trip to Bishop’s Stortford on Saturday (3pm), before a home game with Birmingham Moseley and away day at Plymouth Albion complete the opening stanza.

And Ryan was quick to praise the off-field planning as he ended: “In this long block of eight weeks straight, the coaches are superb at how they plan our training – we have periods of lower intensity but at those points we’re working on accuracy to always improve.”