Droitwich 13 Leamington 13: Droitwich show Kidderminster draw was no fluke by holding Spa

It was clear their draw at title-challenging Kidderminster the previous week was no fluke as the hosts presented all sorts of problems for Leamington in the first period.

They opened the scoring in the first minute, capitalising on an infringement and taking the three points on offer.

Leamington responded immediately when prop Danny Phillips showed his versatility with a well-struck penalty to draw his side level.

As the half progressed, Leamington showed plenty of enterprise without reward.

Scott Peters caused a stir when he took a quick penalty and set Alex Carroll and Tom Daplyn off on a break. The latter was held up short of the line by a throat-jarring tackle which earned his side a penalty. However, despite the nearness of the hosts’ line, Leamington failed to press home the advantage and the ball was cleared.

On the half-hour, Droitwich pushed up the right flank and won the ball from their scrum.

A series of slick passes in their backline caught the Leamington defence out and they broke through to score under the posts.

Once again, Leamington’s response was positive and in one run, Simon Magill made good ground on the nearside wing. However, it failed to bring any reward.

To add to Leamington’s woes, the hosts slotted over a penalty just on half-time to go in with a 13-3 lead.

If the first half had been disappointing for Leamington, the second period was to be one of frustration.

In the opening exchanges, their forwards moved the ball upfield with a well-engineered rolling maul and just failed to get over the line.

This was the first of many such moves from the pack but some reward finally came with a penalty which Phillips despatched with aplomb.

Nathan Earland was introduced in the second period and made an immediate impression with a scintillating run, linking up with Danny Ruyssevelt. This passage won Leamington a penalty deep in the hosts’ 22 but, once again, Droitwich managed to clear their lines.

Peters and Ruyssevelt combined to present another opening, which ultimately saw Matt Timlin held up, just short of the line.

This onslaught continued unabated and finally brought the return it deserved.

Leamington’s pack provided good possession to the backline and Murphy and Daplyn both made ground before getting the ball out to Ryan Byrne on the wing. With little space and plenty of work still to do, the Leamington ace produced a quick turn of speed, eluded the defenders and raced in under the posts. Earland made no mistake with the conversion to put his side on level terms.

There was still at least ten minutes remaining and Leamington continued to try and press home their advantage but to no avail.