On Saturday 24 September, Kenilworth Men's first XV took on Nuneaton at Glasshouse Lane, in the eagerly awaited Regional 1 Midlands fixture; the first time the local rivals have played each other in the league.
As has proven customary to date this season, the opening quarter saw both sides testing each other out.
The home side showed early dominance in the scrum and much to the relief of home supporters, the home line-out was also functioning well, buoyed by the return of Mikkel Andresen and debutant Finn Nicholas.
It was the home side that scored first after 17 minutes, a Nuneaton indiscretion gave Kenilworth's kickable penalty, but skipper Bobby Thompson opted to kick to touch and line out, from which Thompson himself was on the end of the driving maul for score. Conversion added by Will Morgan.
Five minutes later, following a midfield break from the impressive Paddy Grace the referee again pinged the visitors for not rolling away in the tackle; up stepped Morgan (son of club legend Wayne Morgan) to add the three points.
On 30 mins George Walsh gave way for Kieran Payne.
From the following passage of play, the Kenilworth side worked patiently though the phases to create a next scoring opportunity, fly half Tyler Price capitalising on a disjoined defensive alignment from Nuneaton, delayed the short pass to perfection inviting the marauding Andresen through the gap, 'over' the full back and in for Kenilworth's second try of the day.
Morgan dutifully added the conversion. Kenilworth 17, Nuneaton nil.
An enforced change at 10 for Nuneaton saw a tactical change; the newcomer ably orchestrating a wider game, and bringing veteran Phil Reed into the game, something that the home side took some time to get under control. Half time 17- O.
Half time saw Grace taken off and Jacob Line on. From the restart, the home side gathered the ball and Line made an immediate impact, breaking the tackle and making ground.
A couple of phases later, and in chasing a Renowden box kick, Line was adjudged to have taken the opposition player out in the air, penalty Nuneaton, yellow card for Line.
Spurred on by their numerical advantage, the visitors now had the 'bit between their teeth' and scored out wide following several phases of play. Conversion missed. Kenilworth 17, Nuneaton 5.
By the time Kenilworth were back to 15 men (Line back from yellow card) Nuneaton were enjoying their best spell of the game and the pressure eventually told with 10 and 12 linking nicely, a deft chip over the pressing defence from 10, with Reed now at 12 gathering to score.
The conversion took the score to 17-12 and you could sense the large home crowd starting to get nervous.
They needn't have worried because from the restart and following several slick phases of play, Kenilworth showed they were also able to score from the chip and chase. Try scored by Jayde Alexander, converted by Morgan. Kenilworth 24-12.
On around 50 minutes Walsh returned to the fray with debutant Nicholas leaving the field to the applause of the home crowd for a job well done. Payne now at hooker and throwing into the line.
With the game entering the final quarter Nuneaton made the most of some home side indiscipline, scoring their final try of the game, conversion added taking the score to 24-19.
The visitors were now on the ascendancy and the Kenilworth team in need of something to claw momentum back their way.
'Cometh the hour, cometh the man' Kenilworth skipper Thompson put in the shot of the day, stopping the Nuneaton player in his tracks and winning the penalty in the process.
The final few minutes played out before the final whistle confirmed another valuable league win, a first for the club against Nuneaton.
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