LEAMINGTON slipped to their second defeat of the season after losing out to Silhillians for the second time in the space of a month.
The two sides met in the cup last month where the Knowle side came out on top and they did the same again after running out 22-6 winners of this Midland 2 West South encounter.
The hosts were quickly into stride and put together a series of penetrative attacks to test the Leamington but they were met by a very determined Leamington defence.
Mark Baldwin was first to shine with a tackle to stop one promising attack and soon after Patrick Northover and Tom Jewitt combined deep in their 22 to get the ball clear.
A fast break out by Sils looked as though it would undo all of Leamington’s hard work but Garrett Bell raced across field to deliver a knock-out blow to the halt the incursion.
Leamington had to wait some 20 minutes before they could muster a decent attack of their own, however a sprint out of defence by skipper Craig Smith came to nothing.
On the half hour, Leamington conceded a penalty in midfield and from this seemingly innocuous position, Sils carved out a gap to race in for a converted score.
Then, with the half time whistle due, the hosts took clean ball at the lineout and moved the ball to the opposite wing to go in for another score.
After sustaining a battering in the first period and only conceding 12 points, Leamington began the second half in positive fashion, which led to Ben Jenkins stroking home a well deserved penalty goal.
And things got better for the visitors as the confident Jenkins brought his side further into the game with another well struck penalty.
The Leamington pack was in top form and visitors were also performing heroics around the park, where Lewis Kelsey and Gareth Shuttleworth constantly threatened the Sils attack and secured good turnover ball.
At this stage of the match, a converted score for Leamington would have been a potential game changer. Garrett Bell was always up for a run at the Sils defence and tested them on numerous occasions in this second period.
The home side were now fully aware of the serious danger that Leamington posed and realised they had a game on their hands.
Using the undoubted pace at their disposal, the home side twice managed to breach the Leamington defence to secure a hard earned win.
This Saturday Leamington continue league duty with a home game against newly promoted Southam (3pm).
