Leamington 17 Droitwich 10: Solid work from Leamington pack lifts them to a solid victory over Droitwich

Leamington claimed a hard-fought win on the back of a solid performance from their pack to continue their climb up the Midlands Two West (South) table.
Chris Dickinson retrieves possession to put Leamington on the attack in their Midlands Two West clash with Droitwich. Picture: Gina RuysseveltChris Dickinson retrieves possession to put Leamington on the attack in their Midlands Two West clash with Droitwich. Picture: Gina Ruyssevelt
Chris Dickinson retrieves possession to put Leamington on the attack in their Midlands Two West clash with Droitwich. Picture: Gina Ruyssevelt

From the kick-off, Leamington tried to exploit the blindside wing, with a chip for Jamie Harrison narrowly failing to deliver.

Then, in their first scrum of the game, the Spa forwards exerted pressure on the visitors and won a penalty which they kicked to touch.

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From the resultant lineout they claimed quality possession and put in an unstoppable drive towards the Droitwich line, with Nick Maxwell getting the score.

Jamie Harrison made sure of maximum points.

Although Droitwich responded with a long-range penalty soon after, Leamington were soon back in the driving seat.

When Maxwell took the ball against the head another score looked certain. However the home side were penalised for wheeling.

The second try came from Droitwich possession, with Ruyssevelt nipping in to turn the ball over and feed it to right-winger Jamie Harrison, who outstripped the flailing defenders to score in the corner.

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His conversion attempt was just off target to leave Leamington with a 12-3 interval lead.

With a strong squad available, Spa introduced fresh legs for the second half.

Tom Secher came into the fly-half slot and was soon in the action, producing a clever cross-kick which winger Ryan Byrne was inches away from claiming.

Secher continued to use the ball wisely, sending in some probing kicks to put pressure on Droitwich.

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Leamington remained in the ascendancy but a further score eluded them and, as so often is the case, they were caught on the break.

Droitwich claimed the ball deep in their half and set about a race downfield. John Raby, Harrison and Secher all tried in vain to stop the attack but when the ball was eventually touched down in the corner, the visitors were back in business.

This lapse by Leamington was further compounded by a superbly judged conversion to bring the visitors to within two points.

The hosts responded by upping the tempo and they pushed Droitwich back into the top corner of the pitch and unleashed a series of drives that the opposition were unable to cope with. A number of penalties were conceded by the visitors, which led to a yellow card.

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This further undermined the defensive capabilities of Droitwich and Spa took full advantage with Tom Greevy powering through to score after a cleanly won lineout.

The kick was missed and this led to a nervy finish as the visitors pressed Leamington back into their 22 as they probed for the converted try which would level the game.

However, Spa dug deep to repel the danger and maintain their advantage.

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