OLD Leamingtonians found the cutting edge to come out on top in their narrow 21-15 bonus-point victory against Woodrush in Midlands Three West (South).
It was Old Leams’ ninth win this term, keeping them seventh in the table and helping them gain revenge for their 22-12 reverse in November.
After a lengthy drought at the start of the game, an opening score was finally provided when scrum half Bradley James converted a 25th-minute penalty to get the hosts up and running at Bericote Road.
A deep kick into the Woodrush half after the restart meant Old Leams continued to reside in Woodrush territory.
Despite this, the visitors did well to keep their opponents at bay and prevented the hosts from breaching their try line – although James was successful in two penalty attempts which strengthened his side’s lead to 9-0 at the break.
While the changing of ends gave the away side the advantage of the wind, OLs remained very much in the ascendancy and soon found the opening try.
It was full back Callum Semple who was the architect, weaving his way through a number of bodies before feeding the ball to right wing Liam Wellings to score to the right of the posts.
James again converted.
Despite the considerable 16-point advantage, Woodrush launched a comeback attempt when scoring two unconverted tries to bring the score to 16-10 with ten minutes remaining.
Momentum, now with the visitors, led to further pressure but Old Leamingtonians held firm and, after turning over possession, added a final score to clinch the points.
Wellings was again the man to provide it, crossing over with five minutes remaining for an unconverted try after another driving run from Semple.
Woodrush ended the game with a third unconverted score of the game, helping them save some face in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
With no match this weekend, Old Leamingtonians return on Saturday March 21 for a trip to tenth-placed Alcester.
