Old Leamingtonians do all they can to clinch title but walkover denies them

However, they were denied the title after Redditch were unable to field a side against Old Coventrians, handing the leaders the five points they needed to secure top spot.

Conditions were perfect for running rugby on a warm spring day and OLs showed their intent from the start with flanker Liam Jones crossing the line only to be held up.

From the ensuing five-metre scrum, OLs executed a fine three-quarters move which saw winger Paul Salvin score close enough to the posts to allow fly-half Angus Rose to convert.

Shortly after, OLs pressed again into visiting territory and were awarded a penalty just short of the five-metre line, which scrum-half Mark Foley took quickly to burst through and score again. Rose converted for a 14-point lead.

The visitors came back at OLs and prop Bill Johnson became the first of the game’s three sin-binnings when he was penalised for not rolling away quickly enough after a tackle.

Despite their man-disadvantage, the home side countered and a series of slick hands allowed Foley to cross for his second try, this time unconverted.

From the restart, a breathtaking threequarters move was rounded off by centre Lynsey Bishop to bring up the bonus point, Rose converting.

Old Wheats gained some reward with a pushover try to bring it back to 26-5 at the interval.

The second half was an evenly balanced contest with neither side giving much away in defence and OLs had to wait until almost the final act before adding gloss to their promotion campaign.

With the hosts camped in the Old Wheats 22, OLs’ captain Jason Healey took a quick tap penalty to bustle over for the fifth try, with Rose again adding the extras.