RUGBY UNION: OLD Leamingtonians moved up to third in the Midlands 3 West (South) division following a convincing 12-68 win against Old Wheatleyans.
Ten tries were recorded during Saturday’s clash, which resulted in OLs moving within two points of league leaders Shipston.
Though the result suggests OLs dominated from the start, it was the home side that made the best start when early pressure forced Leamington onto the back foot.
But an intercepted pass marked the start of OLs’ domination as Bradley James ran the length of the pitch to open the scoring.
Though the try wasn’t converted, James later kicked a penalty as OLs opened up an 8-0 lead.
OLs’ forwards started to apply more pressure as Felix Heath bagged his first of three tries before winger Liam Wellings also added to the score as the half ended 0-28.
The second half started with an immediate try for the home side as the ball was kicked deep into OLs’ 22. A fortuitous bounce allowed Old Wheats’ winger to cross over for a converted try.
This proved only a small setback in OLs’ game though as the referee soon penalised the hosts with a seven-point penalty try.
After this the floodgates opened and tries for the Old Leamingtonians followed at regular intervals.
Prop Forward Richard Lenton scored twice, Liam Wellings also scored as did and full back Ciaran O’Connor when he provided an overlap to claim a try when the ball was thrown along the threequarters.
It was a day when the forwards completely dominated – scoring six of the ten tries.
Five of the tries were converted and one conversion was from the penalty try which did not need kicking to lift the OLs score to 68 points.
The hosts did manage a late consolation try, but that was as good as it got as the game ended 12-68.
OLs entertain Rugby St Andrews on Saturday.
