Southam 9 - 5 Leamington

Southam go in to the christmas break in good cheer with a much welcome win. A large crowd and the players suffered in the biting wind and rain of storm Deidre.

Southam had the wind against them in the first half, but demonstrated a resilience in defence that would win the game in the end. For 20 minutes they were pinned in their own half, but with strong tackling across the field they kept Leamington out. Eventually they worked there way up the field with forward drives and strong running from fly half Harry Hewson and centres Pete Burnell and Tom Grimes, they got up to the line, but in the end had to settle for a penalty for offside converted by captain Will Grindal. Leamington came back in the last 5, on a penalty kicked for the corner and from the lineout drove over for the try. The weather was that harsh that players went to the changing rooms for a 10 minute break at half time.
HT 3 -5

Southam had the wind in the second half, but it was a half riddled with handling and lineout errors. The home team could not get any purchase in the Leamington 22, but the resolute defence and increasing scrum dominance, kept them in the game. The Southam pack kept the Leamington scrum under continuous pressure, stealing balls against the head and forcing penalties. From a scrum penalty Grindal converted from 25m out, putting Southam in the lead at 6 - 5. Leamington responded, but from the inevitable mistakes, the Southam scrum kept up the pressure and got them up the field. As the half closed, Grindal got another penalty for not rolling away and Southam played out the last minutes.
FT 9 - 5.

It was not a day for running rugby and it was a scrappy game, possibly due to the fact that it was so cold, the players said that they could not feel their hands in the 2nd half. But the Southam defence was solid and the boys wanted a win for christmas. For this win the plaudits have to go the forwards, who put in a big shift, and it was the dominance in the scrums that turned Leamington over. The whole of pack showed up on the day, notably the front row, but individually flanker Rich LLoyd Jones stood out for his work all over the field.

MOTM Rich Llloyd Jones