Try blitz seals derby day win for Leamington over Old Leamingtonians

Leamington winger, Lucien Gould, scoring his side's second try of the game.

The win secures fifth spot in the highly competitive, Counties 1, Midlands West (South) league, for Leamington and leaves them within four points of third placed Evesham.

Leamington Centre, Freddie Spencer, on his debut derby game, caught the visitors cold, allowing him to charge in under the posts in the opening minutes for a converted try.

With just two minutes or so lapsed, Old Leamingtonians quickly put this early setback quickly behind them and mounted a positive response, culminating in a penalty goal for them soon after.

A further penalty brought them closer to the lead before Leamington were back in their stride with a clinically executed move and try from Lucien Gould.

Leamington had looked good for their lead, however, on half time, a slick, speedy attack from Old Leamingtonians, carved out a hole in the home defence, allowing a converted score to trail 14-13 at the break.

In the opening minutes of the half, Leamington sent in a testing kick to the opposition 22 metre zone, which initially looked to be about to cleared. However, the hosts were able to charge the kick down and Patrick Northover was first to react and race in to score.

Replacement winger, Jim Reed, made an immediate impression, when he added two quick tries.

The second period of the game had certainly been in the full control of the hosts, with their solid set of forwards the epicentre of the victory.

Jimmy Crief had been solid in the front row and another derby debutant, Charlie Harkness, had put in a polished performance, in the back row, giving the Old Leamingtonians attack, little or no time to get any cohesion.

The final entry in the score book fell to Leamington Centre, Rich McKowen, who outpaced the opposition, in a near length of the pitch race, to touch down under the posts. Northover, as expected, delivered the extras.