Kenilworth distinctly second-best to South

On a miserable afternoon in Wigston Magna, Kenilworth were simply overwhelmed by a slick South Leicester outfit, writes Bob Jones.

An early flurry of activity from Ks flattered to deceive as the home side’s much bigger pack created a sound platform for a constant wave of attacks.

It was no surprise then, that soon after the pounding up-front began, referee Rob Warburton awarded South Leicester a penalty try, with the accomplished boot of fly-half Mark Lord adding the extras.

Aside from a break by Adam Canning, it was all hands to the pumps in defence for the visitors, with a Gareth Renowden tackle and Chris Murphy clearance kick bringing much-needed relief.

However, further scores were imminent, with a try by Matt Fisher, converted by Lord, closely followed by an unimproved one for Phil Daffern.

Nothing was going right for the Ks, a Canning penalty to touch which landed in the in-goal area typifying this.

Their cause was not helped by an injury to James Wadey, which necessitated Bobby Thompson entering the fray.

Just prior to the break, full-back Nick Griffin increased the lead with a well-worked try, Lord converting.

There was still time for Jamie Peacock to receive a yellow card, Lord making it 29-0 with the resulting penalty award.

Kenilworth made a better start to the second half but this was soon put into perspective as South quickly found top gear.

A drive by their pack saw number eight Chris Bale brush aside challenges to cross 44th minute, with Lord converting.

The visitors were rewarded with an unconverted interception try by Canning two minutes later.

Unfortunately, that was as good as it got. Leicester were soon back on the rampage, with Bale again touching down for an unconverted score.

Rust was withdrawn in favour of Jed Boyle, who immediately livened proceedings with a kick and chase.

Nonetheless, worse was just around the corner, with first, Wes Cartwright going over and Lord resuming normal service with the conversion, then scrum-half Kris Mcfedries darting through gaps to the line, with Lord once more converting.

Although this ended their scoring, the home side were determined to give their opponents nothing.

In the process, they lost James Stapleford and Griffin to the sin-bin in quick succession.

Not to be outdone in what had become a slightly fractious encounter, Jack Gibson decided to inject some aggression with a flurry of punches that saw him also see yellow as the game entered its final throes.