Leamington 22 Dunlop 20: Spa remain in the promotion mix after resisting Dunlop fightback

A heavy hailstorm preceded the match, resulting in a greasy surface and difficult ball-handling conditions.

The visitors began at pace and put Spa under early pressure. Tom Secher had to hack the ball away to stop one thrust then full-back Tom Phipps cleared his lines with a boot upfield.

With 11 minutes on the clock, Spa took the lead with a well-worked try.

The Spa pack won the ball from a scrum near the halfway line and Patrick Northover sent out a quick pass to Ryan Byrne on the blind-side wing. Byrne chipped the ball ahead, outstripped the defence and raced in to score.

Secher was just off target with the conversion attempt.

Although Spa seemed in control, they had a scare when Dunlop intercepted the ball in their own 22 and raced upfield at pace. Fortunately for the hosts, Northover was alert to the danger and halted the attack with a well-timed tackle.

Spa increased their lead when Scott Peters forced his way up the centre of the park before making the ball available to Northover, who sent over a neat chip to Simon Magill on the wing.

The Spa winger darted towards the posts before setting the ball for Tom Greevy to thunder over. Secher then slotted over to gain maximum points.

Dunlop hit back almost immediately with a penalty, then, minutes later scored a converted try following a clever break from their backs.

These quickfire scores dented Spa’s confidence and they had to dig deep to steady the ship.

Byrne brought some semblance of relief with a neat kick upfield.

Then Gareth Shuttleworth took the ball from a Spa lineout and was unlucky not to score. However, the visitors’ defence just managed to hold him up with the line begging.

Spa continued to press and were eventually able to build on their lead.

With the set scrum working well for the hosts, Northover claimed possession and linked quickly with Secher. The latter sent through a well-directed kick which Tom Daplyn immediately latched on to and raced in to score. Secher once again added the extras to put his side 19-10 up at the interval.

Dunlop started the second period strongly and scored another converted try following a solid scrum which their backline used intelligently to punch a hole in the Spa defence.

Although Secher slotted over a penalty for Spa, the half was becoming a very nervy affair for the hosts and they had to defend in depth to fend off a very strong challenge from Dunlop.

The home support’s blood pressure increased as Dunlop struck over a penalty to move within two points of Spa.

The visitors then set about another onslaught on the home defence, which made for a very tense finish but Spa managed to hold on by the skin of their teeth.