Some good play by Leamington saw them pressure the opposition

Another disciplined performance and a losing bonus point was worth the visit to Berkswell&Balsall, as Leamington gave the high riding hosts a game to remember.

Playing with the slope advantage, Leamington had to sustain some seventeen minutes of pressure, before they finally got position in the hosts half. However, they followed up this initial barren patch with a concerted drive at the home side, earning a number of penalty decisions on the way. In fact the hosts were lucky to keep 15 players on the pitch during this time.

Full Back, Sam Nunn pinned the home side in their 22 metre zone, with some accurate line kicking, following these penalty incidents, however, where Leamington will be disappointed, is in their ability to convert this pressure into points. This situation was compounded when the hosts both repelled these advances and then raced up field to open the scoring with an unconverted try.

Leamington were quick to respond and once again turned the screw on the hosts, by pinning them back in their own 22 metre zone. In one of these incursions and following a scrum, Leamington No8, Ali Weedon, who is having a tremendous season, almost broke the white line, before being held up. The continual attacks by Leamington finally brought reward with Ed Gray finishing off another drive, with a try in the near side corner.

Half Time: 5 – 5

The second period opened with a try and conversion for hosts and it appeared that Leamington, with the wind and slope against them, would be in for a torrid time.

The visitors were quick to dispel any negative thoughts and hit back from all angles. The scrum, bolstered by the return of top quality Prop, Mark Warrilow, was giving the hosts a challenge in the set piece. Craig Smith and Ed Gray were commanding the lineout and winger, Conor Chamberlain began to tease the opposition with some mesmeric running.

Mid way through the half, Leamington opened up the hosts defence with a superbly engineered attack. Stemming from a scrum, the ball was quickly fed out and Craig Smith penetrated the hosts defence with a sprint before feeding winger, Louis Harvey, who jinked his way passed the defence and raced in to score. However, disappointingly, the winger’s burst on the outside had led to him straying into to touch and the score was, rightly, disallowed.

The game, however, continued to defy home form, as Leamington, always on the front-foot, tried to push ahead. In fact the final minutes of the game were played in the hosts 22 metre zone, with Berkswell & Balsall constantly falling foul of the Referees whistle and once again, fortunate not to be on the receiving end of a card. Sam Nunn was finding touch with his penalty kicks and the lineout was working well to probe and test the home defence and at the final whistle, it was the hosts who showed most emotion, as they knew they had been lucky to come away with a narrow win.

Full Time: 12 – 5