Leamington earn place in the Papa John semi-final

The Leicestershire side, who ply their trade in Counties 1 Midlands East (North), finished in sixth place in this league and had been awarded byes in the first two rounds of this competition. They boasted a very physical squad and had home advantage, however, they came up against a Leamington team, brimming with confidence, fit and full of invention.

From the start, Leamington winger, Kofi Miller, showing no ill-effects from his serious shoulder injury that had curtailed his season, tested the home defence with a direct run. Then, when Loughborough set about a series of attacks in the Leamington 22 metre area, centre, Alex Johnston, stepped in with two timely, crunching tackles, to halt proceedings. This latter passage of play proved pivotal, as despite their considerable bulk, the home side found it difficult to break through Leamington's watertight defence throughout the afternoon.

Leamington broke this initial stranglehold with a long kick out of defence, following good defensive work from John Brear and Nathan Batchelor. This was instrumental in the first score of the day, as Miller fielded the homes sides clearance kick and his follow up run was supported by Brear, who was able to force his way over the try line. Alex Johnston then stepped up with the conversion.

The visitors were quick to improve on this opening and following a smart attack up the far side flank, the ball was quickly flashed across the park to Ed Gray, for try number two.

The home side hit back with an unconverted score, however, on half time, Leamington were able to increase their lead with an Alex Johnston penalty.

Leamington are a team that thrive on attack-minded rugby football and the second period opened up with a startling run from full back, Jonty Duncan. This set up a lineout, which the visitors won and moved the ball quickly across the backline, with Duncan setting Miller up for a score in the corner. Johnston then sent over the conversion from wide out to claim maximum return.

Momentum was interupted by a converted score from Loughborough, however this proved transient as a strong run from centre, Freddie Spencer, enabled the 'Duncan Miller' duo to link once again for Miller to score. Johnston then stepped in with a monster conversion. Play had centred on the far side flank for these last two scores and when Spencer found himself on the front foot, in the same territory, he declined the support of his fellow Backs and raced through for a fine individual try, impressively improved upon by Johnston.

Alex Johnston capped a very fine performance with another penalty and although the home side finished with a converted score with the last passage of play, it was Leamington who had produced another scintillating display and win a home semi-final fixture, against Manchester side, Aldwinians.