Leamington produce best performance in years to crush Banbury

Leamington put together one of their best performances in recent years to comprehensively demolish a lively Banbury side in Midlands Two West (South).

Despite falling behind to a penalty goal in the opening minutes, Spa took the lead with a well-worked try soon after. They were awarded a penalty that Patrick Northover kicked for touch and from the resulting line-out, set up a maul. The Spa pack put in a huge drive towards the Banbury line and prop Terry Curran bulldozed over for the score.

Spa maintained good momentum and strong mauling by the pack set the scene for a second try as Alex Carroll took quick ball and cut through the Banbury midfield at pace. Tom Daplyn was in support and the two exchanged quick passes before Carroll raced in to score. Northover continued his excellent kicking record to claim full points.

Leamington increased their lead as Alex Sharman took the ball from a line-out and cut a dash through the defence. The pack gave full support and, as they mauled their way to the line, Northover grabbed the ball and dived over for the score. He then calmly slotted over the conversion.

Just before half-time, Northover finished off another smart Spa attack to put the visitors 24-3 up.

Leamington continued to press the home side after the interval with dominant play from their pack. Curran, Maxwell and Danny Phillips were providing the best possible platform for a solid scrum which Banbury failed to cope with all afternoon.

As play moved into the near corner, Northover was on the alert again to grab the ball following a surge from the pack to dart over for his hat-trick, which he also converted.

Banbury were struggling to cope with both the power of the Spa pack, and the dynamic pace of the visitors back line. To emphasise this, Carroll broke with the ball and whipped out a pass to Johnny Robertson. With his first touch of the ball, the replacement tore through the Banbury defence and raced over to score a try converted by Northover.

Leamington continued to dazzle with some exquisite attacking play and, to complete the demolition, Northover and Simon Tyler opened up the home defence and allowed Nathan Earland to sprint over for the final try of the game. Northover completed a fine individual performance by slotting over the conversion.