Leamington again pay the penalty for indiscipline

Leamington were on the scoresheet in the eighth minute following a solid scrum, which enabled Gareth Shuttleworth to test the Barkers defence with a darting run to line.

Although the covering defence stopped his initial charge, they were unable to cope with the force of prop Aled Thomas, who bulldozed over for the try. Will Fievet was just off target with the conversion attempt.

The home side will, however, be disappointed that they were not able to hold on to their lead, allowing Barkers to score a try in their first foray into Leamington territory.

The strong wind, blowing across the pitch, did nothing to help the quality of play.

However, both sides were keen to attack.

Simon Harry and Danny Ruyssevelt put in some monumental tackles and when the Coventry side did break through, close to half-time, Adam Preece produced a try-saving tackle.

Both teams continued to perform at a high tempo after the break and the Leamington pack forced the early pace to gain a penalty, which Fievet calmly slotted over.

The visitors’ response was immediate and Preece was once again called upon to produce heroics with two well-timed tackles to halt the danger.

As the pace of the game increased, Leamington produced a magical piece of rugby. Alex Carroll sped the ball along the backline from inside his 22, eventually finding Fievet on the wing.

His pace caught the opposition off guard and he began a mesmeric run upfield before finding Tom Greevy deep inside the visitors’ 22. With the Leamington pack in full support a score looked inevitable. However, Barkers managed to retrieve possession and nearly caught Leamington cold with a swift counter of their own.

Soon after, Barkers brought themselves level, courtesy of a penalty and from the restart they upset the big Moorefields crowd by scoring a try.

Leamington once again got themselves back into contention with some more dynamic play from their hard-working forwards, Thomas laying the platform for Peters to force his way over.

Fievet nailed the conversion and, once again, Leamington had the lead.

However, Leamington were punished for a piece of indiscipline, giving away a penalty and the lead by a point.

In the final minutes of this pulsating game, Leamington had the opportunity to get the win when they were awarded a scrum under the visitors’ posts.

The scene was set for another of their trademark drives but this time they lost control of the ball and Barkers Butts were able to clear the danger.