Byrne touches down to spare Spa’s blushes

Spa had the best of starts when Ryan Byrne caught the home side cold with a sprint up field before offloading for Craig Smith to score.

Bedworth replied immediately and John Raby had to be alert to tidy up.

The Leamington pack was in a positive mood and scrum-half Gareth Shuttleworth used the possession to probe at the Bedworth defence.

Disappointingly for Spa, they were unable to add to their lead during a prolonged spell of pressure and allowed Bedworth back into the game courtesy of a converted score.

Having soaked up further Spa pressure, Bedworth hit back with some strong running and, following the award of successive penalties, their robust forwards used the possession to force the ball over for a second score.

A Jamie Harrison penalty reduced the arrears to leave Leamington trailing 12-8 at the break.

The sides exchanged three-pointers shortly after the restart before Spa introduced the fresh legs of Patrick Northover, who immediately announced himself with a crossfield kick that Raby nearly latched on to.

A Dan Kane run engineered room for Spa in the Bedworth 22 and the forwards carried on the good work with Tom Greevy getting the final touch.

The conversion was missed to leave Leamington with a slender one-point lead.

However, they were out of sight when Carroll and Daplyn exchanged quick passes to allow Byrne to race in and score, with Harrison adding the crucial extras.