RUGBY UNION: OLD Leamingtonians beat Bedworth 27-10 despite spending ten minutes of Saturday’s Midlands 3 West (South) clash as The Crofts with 13-men following two yellow cards.
The game started in spectacular style when with just 30 seconds on the clock, a Bedworth clearance kick was charged down by Joe Tallamini who collected the knock down and slipped a pass to left wing Eales to cross in the left corner for an unconverted try.
From the kick off Bedworth, belying their lowly league position, took the game to the home side and it was only solid defence from OLs that kept the visitors score to zero for the next 15 minutes.
Then it was Bedworth that found themselves a further three points down against the run of play when Bradley James converted a penalty.
OLs’ general play was scrappy during the remainder of the first half and it was no surprise when the pressure from bottom club Bedworth caused problems in the home 22 metre area, first to be awarded a penalty in front of the posts that was converted, and from continued pressure on the home defence a series of mauls resulted in a converted try to give the visitors a two-point lead.
On the stroke of half time OLs forced the visitors back over the goal line from a line-out for Tom Smith to touch down. The conversion was missed but OLs went into half time with a lead of 13-10.
The second half saw a transformation in play from the OLs. With the hosts having the wind advantage and showing more commitment, the game was played mostly in the Bedworth half.
However, the visitors were not out of the game and they were still causing problems to the OLs defence. The situation wasn’t helped when the match official adjudged that two OLs should be yellow carded for ten minutes.
With 13 men on the field OLs were triggered into their best period of play in the game.
First full back Henry Reynolds outpaced the Bedworth defence to touch down under the posts for a Brad James converted try, and with OLs now taking charge of the game and with the yellow carded duo restored to the field the home side took control and put the Bedworth defence under severe pressure.
Five minutes from the final whistle, after a period of concentrated OLs pressure, the best (bonus point) try of the game was scored when Adam Stannard brushed off three defensive tackles before running the ball into goal for a well-executed try.
The conversion by Bradley James was successful to give OLs a final victory score of 27-10.
This Saturday OLs visit unbeaten league leaders Droitwich.
