Kenilworth claim derby bragging rights

A glorious late September afternoon at Glasshouse Lane promised a fast, open game between these two rivals, facing each other for the first time in six years, writes Ralph Murray.

However, early exchanges were tentative, with both sides guilty of not making the most of some good early possession.

Encouragingly for Kenilworth, early set-piece play suggested the home side would enjoy an advantage in this area, but some early penalty decisions did much to nullify their superiority.

From one such scrum, Leamington half-back Sam Nunn judged his move well to intercept Gareth Renowden’s pass to move the visitors into Ks territory and a promising attack developed.

As the ball was moved wide, James Wadey showed great anticipation to intercept and break the Leamington line, thundering 20 metres before opting to give the honours to Harry O’Brien, supporting well on his right shoulder, for a try in the corner. Tom Kendal continued his good run of form with a well-judged conversion from close to the touchline.

The try lifted Kenilworth and the next ten minutes were almost all spent in the Leamington half but all too often the attack came to an abrupt end due to a whistle rather than an error from the home side.

With the penalty count becoming an issue, Kenilworth were finally awarded one of their own and Kendall made no mistake to extend the lead to 10-0.

Leamington put together a series of good moves but all came to naught as each attack ended with largely unforced errors.

One such attack was turned over by Bobby Thompson and Renowden turned defence into attack with a good line break. The ball eventually found Andy Whitehall who ran 50 metres to touch down close to the posts. Another successful conversion by Kendall extended the advantage to 17 points.

Leamington responded from the kick-off with another strong surge into the Kenilworth half but again it was Wadey who read the game well to intercept. This time he had Jonny Openshaw on his left shoulder who not only secured the offload but, with a deft chip-kick over the oncoming defender, brought play all the way to the Leamington 22-metre line.

In the remaining minutes before half-time, Kenilworth continued to press and gained further reward when Andy Whitehall took off up the left wing, beating defenders en route to a fine score and a 25-3 half-time lead.

The second half began in much the same way as the first, with Spa keen to take the ball on but let down by a final pass or other unforced errors.

An infringement put Leamington ten metres from the Ks line, but again the promising attack was turned over by Renowden and the ball found its way to Nyle Beckett who took off with customary speed towards the line only to be stopped by an outstanding last-gasp tackle by winger Jon Raby.

Ks were now steadily increasing the tempo as they sensed a real opportunity to close the game out.

As Spa looked to ease the pressure with a scrum, Renowden again got the drop on his opposite number and made another outstanding line break which again found its way to Beckett. Tearing up the right wing, he found support inside him which split the defence and put O’Brien in for his second of the afternoon.

The die was cast and Kenilworth now entered their most dominant phase of the game.

A fantastic break on the right wing resulted in superb handling between a number of players, with Ross Lowthian taking the final pass and scoring close to the posts.

A late flurry near the Leamington line then saw Renowden steal over for a try which was the minimum reward for his afternoon’s industry.