| Cleobury Mortimer - 1st XV: 14 - 20 |
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| Written by Website Administrator | |
| Sunday, 01 April 2007 | |
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Leamingtonians completed a season's double to make
certain of a fifth place Division Four West (South) finish while almost
certainly sentencing their hosts to an immediate return to the lower
level.
A strong wind proved the dominant factor with
Cleobury establishing a 14-3 interval lead only to see their opponents make even
better use of the elements to secure the two points with a late surge that
brought three tries.
The home side opened the scoring inside five
minutes when a long diagonal penalty kick from their own 22 found touch a yard
from the OL line. From the resulting lineout, Cleobury's pack caught and drove
over for an unconverted try. Three penalty succeses followed before Adam Canning
was able to put his team on the scoresheet with his own penalty
reward.
It took Leamingtonians some time to come to grips
with the wind and they remained on the back foot as Cleobury worked hard to add
to their lead, only some excellent defence from, in particular, Simon Hemming
and Simon Magill preventing other home scores.
But the visitors finally got it right, the introduction of powerful duo Andy
Davies and Neil Boag prompting an immediate and pleasing OL
response.
Boag, on for young Tom Kerr, showed he still has
the desire as well as the technical expertise to provide the front row with
added impetus while skipper Davies, who took over from the injured Greg
Williams, slotted into the second row to input his own injection of craft and
ballast.
Time and time again the Cleobury scrummage was put
into hectric retreat before finally giving way to concede powerhouse tries to
Dave Simms and Davies, Canning adding a conversion. It was now all one-way
traffic with Cleobury doing well to hold up Alex Pain and Magill after the wing
pair had each crossed the line. Magill, a strong and willing runner quite
capable of performing at a higher level, also saw a try ruled out for a marginal
foot in touch.
But Leamingtonians were still able to have the last
word, full-back Dave Canning displaying his versatility when turning up on the
right wing to make the most of an overlap, his try dotted down seconds from the
end to complete the scoreline of a generally scrappy match.
Next game: Evesham, away Saturday.
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