Leamington’s tough away fixture, at top of the table Worcester, ended in defeat for the “Moorefields” men, 38 – 14, however, the squad certainly left their mark on the opposition, with some superb, individual performances.

Set in the shadows of the mammoth, “Sixways Stadium”, home to Championship side, Worcester Warriors, Leamington’s opponents today, sadly, reside in a glorified car park, somewhat soulless and without character. With the “Warriors”, entertaining Hartbury on the same day, visiting was not for the feint-hearted.

The home side led 17 nil at half time. Although Leamington were unlucky not to have been on the scoresheet, following a blistering run from Freddie Spencer, followed by some determined support play from Gareth Shuttleworth, which saw the attack just held up, inches from the try line.

The home side ran in a further, converted score, just after the break, before Leamington caught breath and showcased some of their talents, including another break by Spencer, a strong and direct run from prop, Heera Johal and a delightful, jinking run from centre, Jack Tripp-Smith. This positive attack play from the visitors soon got them on the scoresheet, with a well-engineered try. Second Row, Jamie Loffman, making a welcome return to the squad after a long injury lay-off, made an incisive break, forcing the hosts to concede a penalty. With the ball driven into touch, Leamington claimed the lineout and set Spencer off on another charge. The home side had been unable to cope with the strong running fly-half all afternoon and he was given two attempts to try to cross the line, before delivering the try scoring pass to centre, Jim Reed. Jack Tripp-Smith added the conversion.

Disappointingly for Leamington, they allowed another quick response from the hosts.

The Leamington coaching team had rejigged their backline, with scrum-half, Tom van der Hoven partnering Spencer at halfbacks. They had also brought the strong running, Jim Reed, into the centre position. This combination was proving to be very effective, giving the home side plenty to think about, especially when they were having to defend their lines. A further score for Leamington was always on the cards, such was the squads continued endeavour and it came in spectacular form. From an attacking position in the home side’s half, scrum-half, van der Hoven, had the his powerful back division waiting to his left-hand side, however, he decided to send through an audacious “grub” kick, which Shuttleworth pounced on in an instant. With the Worcester defence looking on, the Back-row, come winger and now hooker, sprinted through and under the posts unchallenged. Tripp-Smith was quickly on hand to add the extras.

Although the home side concluded proceeding with another score, to run out clear winners, Leamington left, having the deep sense of character in their squad, firmly under-scored.

Full Time: 38 - 14