Old Laurentians 23 Kenilworth 31: Forgettable encounter will only be remembered for the result

A stop-start first-half littered with penalties and mistakes from both sides was the reward for a decent crowd basking in unseasonably mild temperatures.

The visitors established a tenth-minute lead with prop Jake Dodd crashing over following a lineout and a couple of phases from Kenilworth’s backs. Tom Kendall failed to convert.

However, the lead was shortlived with Old Laurentians scoring soon after courtesy of a well-executed move from their centre partnership.

The conversion was added and Old Laurentians extended their lead to five points with a penalty.

Kenilworth responded well, with a good break from Dom Sheehan, who offloaded to Bobby Thompson to crash over.

Kendall’s conversion put Kenilworth 12-10 up.

The visitors continued to exert pressure on the Old Laurentians defence but were unable to press home their advatage thanks to too many turnover balls.

However, they eventually ground down the hosts, with Sheehan ghosting past the cover defence to score a fine individual try under posts.

Kendall’s successful conversion extended the advantage to nine points.

Ks continued to dominate territory but were again undone by too many mistakes, allowing Old Laurentians to hold firm until the half-time whistle.

The second half was more entertaining from a spectator’s point of view, but still beset by unforced errors.

Old Laurentians cut the deficit to three points with two penalty kicks before Thompson went over for his second try to put Kenilworth ahead by more than a converted score.

The lead was quickly extended again thanks to an interception try from the ever-alert Nyle Beckett who raced the length of the pitch to score.

Josh Hickman’s conversion put Kenilworth in control at 31-16 up and despite the sin-binning of Jonny Openshaw, Old Laurentians could only manage a converted try to complete the scoring.

 Kenilworth Cavaliers turned in a fine performance to defeat Nuneaton Old Eds 38-0 in the Warwickshire 2nd XV Cup quarter-final.

Kenilworth were always in control, opening up a 31-0 lead at the break before ringing the changes for a second half which was shortened due to a serious injury to a Nuneaton player.

Fly-half Nick Prince opened the scoring, with Adam Clifford, Tim Badcock, Rhys Jones and Matt Cooper also crossing before the interval.

A superb try started by George Trafford and finished off by Clifford lit up the second period, but the entertainment was cut short mid way through the half when Nuneaton’s AJ Giddins suffered a bad leg injury.