Rugby Union
KENILWORTH returned to winning ways with a tenacious 32-13 victory over local rivals Earlsdon at Glasshouse Lane, despite having gone down to 13 players in the first half.
The conditions meant it was never going to be an afternoon for free-flowing, running rugby and it was Earlsdon who registered first at the end of the first quarter through Lawrence Griffiths.
Kenilworth responded well, however, with wing Ed Hannam burrowing his way over from close range. His try nudged the hosts into a two-point lead following the successful conversion from of Simon Tyler.
With the half hour mark approaching, Earlsdon were once again inside the Kenilworth 22, with the hosts losing prop Dan Roberts to the sin bin for collapsing the maul.
The visitors soon made the most of their one-man advantage with number eight Martin Wood crashing over for his side’s second try and a 10-7 lead.
Sustained pressure in the Kenilworth 22 then saw the hosts go down to 13 players with full back Ollie Sharples shown a yellow card for a try-saving deliberate knock on just five metres from the Kenilworth line. Despite having two more players on the pitch, Earlsdon were unable to turn their pressure into points with Kenilworth’s defence holding firm to keep the score at 10-7 at the break.
Having found themselves a try down early in the first half, Kenilworth wasted no time in regaining the lead in the second forty. A trademark snipe from Gareth Renowden saw the scrum half go over by the posts following a tapand-go penalty. Tyler was once again on target with the conversion to put his side 14-10 up.
Earlsdon then cut the gap to a single point with a penalty from in front of the posts before Tyler responded with three points from his left boot to restore his side’s four-point lead. The visitors then found themselves down to 14 men when a second row was sin binned.
A second penalty for Tyler as the final quarter approached made the score 20-13 before Charlie Stevens took the game beyond doubt with a try under the posts after 75 minutes. The young centre charged down an Earlsdon clearance kick and his quick reactions saw him race clear in the 22 to cross the whitewash. Tyler added the extras for a 27-13 lead.
With victory now secured Kenilworth were keen to earn the all-important bonus point and that’s exactly what they did with prop Dan Minks crossing on the right with just a minute to go. Tyler dragged his conversion just to the left of the uprights before the referee called time on a physical encounter in tough conditions, with Kenilworth securing the victory.
In the battle of the ‘spa Towns,’ Leamington came up just a point short of Droitwich after being 16 points behind.
The visiting league leaders were mighty relieved to edge home 21-19 but Leamington’s roaring fightback did at least secure a losing bonus point.
Leamington did take the lead as prop Dan Barber punched a hole through the defence and after support from Tom Lane, fullback Sam Nunn was able to get over.
Droitwich immediately applied pressure but their first score did not come until the 34th minute when they crossed from an attacking scrum. And the conversion gave the visitors a 7-5 advantage at the interval.
In the second half, Leamington were camped in their own 22 and as infringements mounted under the pressure, two yellow cards reduced Leamington’s number and Droitwich capitalised with a brace of tries, one of which was converted.
As the half progressed, though, Leamington found renewed energy and began to apply their own pressure to the Droitwich defence.
John Brear and Danny Phillips linked well with prop Aled Thomas and from one of their incursions, a darting run from Toby Bruce gave Patrick Northover the wherewithal to touch down. Tom Jewitt converted.
The game had now swung in the home side’s favour and they registered again through Thomas but Jewitt’s conversion was the last act of the game and Leamington had to settle for a point.
Elsewhere in the division, Southam won 18-11 at Evesham.
The visitors opened the scoring after 13 minutes as fly half Harry Hewson kicked a precision up and under and after centre Tom Grimes contested the ball, wing Sam Bench came up in support to touch down. Skipper Will Grandal converted.
On the half hour mark, a strong scrum was the catalyst for Bench to come in at speed and score his second.
Evesham responded with a try but Grindal had the last word in the half with 30 metre penalty.
Grindal hit another penalty 12 minutes into the second half and they saw the game out with Evesham only able to respond with a penalty of their own.