Once again, Midlands 2 West (South) dished up a game of pulsating rugby that saw Leamington give their hosts a tough afternoon throughout, just failing to get the better of them at crucial times.

Enforced changes in the squad saw Sam Nunn and John Holland brought into the back line and Team manager, John Raby, will have been impressed at the way they fitted seamlessly into his plans. Nunn linked effortlessly with scrum-half, Joe Walton, to give his Backs ample quality possession to attack the home defence and Holland ripped through the midfield, like a knife through butter, creating havoc each time.

Conceding a try in the opening minutes, Leamington had the worst possible start and the solid Coventry outfit looked as though they, themselves, could run riot on this bitterly cold spring afternoon. However, after catching breath and regrouping, Leamington put together some enterprising play of their own. There a few better line-out jumpers in the league than Craig Smith and he secured possession in an early set piece, allowing his forwards to drive him up close to the Barker’s try line to create Leamington first scoring opportunity of the day. Disappointing for the hosts, they conceded a penalty and the attack fizzled out. The amount of infringements Leamington commit, in dangerous areas, is a source of mounting concern and is one of the few negatives, in their play this season.

Leamington continued to press and following a forceful run from Craig Smith, the half-back partnership of Walton and Nunn showed their class with some slick handling, enabling the ball to be presented to Holland, on the burst, for his first charge of the afternoon. Full back, Toby Bruce, then joined in to put the home defence under pressure.

The hosts then had a turn to attack again and both Will Fievet and Craig Smith had to put in try saving tackles, in their 22 metre zone, to prevent going further behind. As Barker’s tried to press home their advantage, Nunn came to Leamington’s rescue with a series of long kicks to touch and so cleared the danger. This period continued to favour the home side and Leamington found themselves having to dig deep to keep them at bay. Bruce and Ryan Byrne pulled off several last ditch tackles and along with Fievet and the boot of Sam Nunn they managed to thwart Barker’s, before the hosts pressure finally paid off, creating an overlap on the far wing and allowing a converted score.

As the half drew to a close, Leamington regained the momentum of play, with some strong drives from John Brear and Simon Harry and another breathtaking break from Holland. This resulted in the hosts conceding a penalty, which Will Fievet coolly slotted over to finally get his side on the score sheet.

Half Time: 12 – 3

At the restart, Barker’s Butts were first to shine and once again, Leamington had to defend in depth. The home side seemed to have increased their lead as the pressure they were exerting finally broke the Leamington resolve. However their overzealous attacker inadvertently crossed the dead ball line and gave the visitors a let off.

Desperate to get back into the game, Leamington began to put some decent attacks together and a superb drive by John Brear got them positioned in the Barker’s Butts 22 metre area. The attack moved towards the nearside wing, but possession was lost and the home winger set off on a run that was to get his side up field, at break neck speed. Craig Smith found himself having to revert from attacker, into defender in a split second and put in a huge effort to try to rescue the situation. However, the home attack just managed to steer clear and get over the score line.

This score had opened up a 16 point gap and gave the home side a lift, which they used to put Leamington under another period of attack. However, they once again found Toby Bruce in superb form and were unable to break through.

The game was full of incident and while struggling to compete with the score line, Leamington did not detract from their aim, which was to get back into contention. The forwards had been buoyant all afternoon and always prepared to test the home defence. Mark Warrilow, Scott Peters and Tom Greevy had put in a very solid shift in the front row, against tough opposition and it was Peters who set up the chance for Leamington to get back into the game. His penetrating run ended just short of the Barker’s Butts goal posts. The Leamington pack secured possession, allowing Sam Nunn to get the ball out to Holland. In anticipation of another direct run from the Leamington Centre, the home defence were caught cold as he sent out a long pass to wing, Ryan Byrne who gratefully accepted the chance to race over.

The home side suddenly lost their composure and this led to a period of disarray resulting in them conceding two yellow cards. Leamington initially seized the advantage and both Peters and Holland put in some excellent drives to try to get to an all important and potentially bonus point score. However, anticipation suddenly turned to desperation as the home side, against the odds, scored a try.

This was a big disappointment to the visitors and although they were able to score another try, a fine individual effort from Will Fievet, they unable to gain any material reward.

Full Time: 24 - 13