Leamington 33 Banbury 11: Banbury sent packing as Leamington bag a deserved bonus-point victory

The visitors were overwhelmed by the force of Spa’s pack, and in particular the superb scrummaging of Danny Phillips, Matt Timlin and Scott Peters, who enabled a constant flow of possession to find its way to the back division.

Centre Mark Balwin began another solid individual show with a try in the opening minutes following good interplay from Alex Carroll, Tom Daplyn and, finally, John Raby, to give Spa the lead.

Then Spa produced the first of their very solid scrums, to give the home support comfort.

Banbury responded and Dave Moroney put in a crucial tackle to stem the flow before the visitors claimed a try of their own to draw level.

With 20 minutes on the clock, Spa regained the lead with a well-worked score.

Tom Secher and Baldwin unlocked the Banbury defence and when the forwards carried the ball to the line, Gareth Shuttleworth was on hand to take possession and race over.

Secher added the conversion before Banbury reduced the arrears with a penalty goal to leave the hosts with a 12-8 half-time lead.

An indication of Leamington’s strength in depth was illustrated in their next score. Danny Phillips gained possession and quickly found Timlin in support. The latter cleverly drew in the defence then let out a sweetly timed pass to John Raby who hit the gas and powered over. Secher quickly added the extras.

Spa continued in this rich vein of form with Shuttleworth stealing the ball to set up an attack and the home side benefiting from a solid platform provided by their front row.

Banbury did their utmost to try and get back into the game and hit back with another penalty goal.

However, Spa were dominant territorially and winger James Harrison produced a direct charge at the Banbury defence before the home side increased their lead with another passage of clever football.

Once again, Baldwin was on hand to engineer the move, setting James Harrison off on a run. Danny Ruyssevelt was in support and took the pass to charge over. Secher claimed maximum points and Spa had got the all-important fourth try.

With the match entering its final minutes Spa were to produce one last piece of magical play.

Dave Moroney gathered the ball in his own 22 and slipped a quick pass to Harrison. The young winger warmed up the Moorefield faithful as raced up field, leaving a cluster of floundering defenders behind him.

With the tryline begging he changed direction slightly and coasted over between the posts.

Secher duly obliged with the conversion and Spa were home and dry.