An entertaining and enthralling contest between two sides fighting at the foot of the table was eventually won by Esher after the lead had changed no less than 7 times throughout the afternoon.

An early line break from Esher centre Ed Volley led to an offside penalty that was dispatched by Tom Walker, but the Lions responded quickly and prop Chris Romano crashed over from close range following a period of pressure on the Esher line. Luke Bouchier converted (7-3).

This was quickly followed by a driving maul try, finished by hooker Arthur Allen. Bouchier added the extras to give the Lions a deserved 14-3 lead after a frantic first 10 minutes.

The wet conditions were proving tricky for both sides and a handling error by the Lions was scooped up by Esher centre Myles Rawstron-Rudd who went in unopposed. This was quickly followed by a score from Esher scrum half Henry Mortimer who again capitalised on a Lions handling error. Esher's fly half Tom Walker successfully converted both scores (14-17).

The visitors' lead was short lived though as it was the Lions' turn to capitalise on a handling error when a Fin Ogden box kick wasn't claimed cleanly and Jake Sterland raced away to score (19-17).

Ethan Godefroy was yellow carded for foul play on 29 minutes, following a fracas at a breakdown, and Esher made the Lions pay when impressive centre Volley finished out wide to give the visitors a 24-26 lead at the break after a breathless first half.

The Lions began the second strongly, clearly looking for some territorial gain, and regained the lead on 47 minutes when Johnny Murdoch crashed over having run a nice hard line close to the opposition line. Again Bouchier converted (26-24).

The Lions were firmly in the ascendency but it was Esher who regained the lead on the hour. Following a big Lions scrum penalty, Bouchier's touch kick went dead and from the resulting scrum Esher scored through a neat strike play., finished off by James Botterill. Walker added the extras (26-31).

Esher then extended their lead just 4 minutes later when a loose James Stubbs clearance kick was returned to backfield where there was no covering defenders and Botterill won the race to dot down (26-36).

The Lions pressed for the last 10 minutes and were camped in the Esher half but weren't able to find a score until the final play of the game, when Jordan Tebbatt crossed from close range. Final score 31-36.

The Lions earned two bonus points but will reflect on a game that they absolutely should have won and will rue their mistakes. The Lions were the dominant side but their errors were punished by a clinical Esher side. Another tough lesson for the young Lions side to learn.

Head coach Gareth Collins commented: ''That was a really tough one to take. We were dominant in all areas today but our errors and inability to manage the game really cost us. At 14-3 up we were firmly in the driving seat and with the conditions should have made it much harder for Esher to get a foothold in the game. The real positive from today was how well our set piece went. If we can combine that with our usual attacking intent and accuracy we'll win plenty of games to come.''