After a good warm up and pre-match talk the sun was shining and all seemed to be in place for a great afternoons rugby and the first 15 minutes did not dissapoint the home fans.

Skipper Dean Smith assumed his usual position at loose head prop with Tommy Franks filling in for the injured Jason Norton at Hooker and Dan Boardman made a welcome return at tight head. More returning players made up the second row with Steph Ray and Dan Wayne who were supported by Brent Rikalans and Rob Hough on the flanks and veteran springbok Eubie Saayman at 8.

In the backs John Borthwick kept his usual shirt at scrum half with Kieran Jackson moving into fly half. Joe Madden and Callum Render made up the midfield with Danny Norton, Rhys Cruskovswyski and Rob Gemmill in the back three. Scott Pearce, Charlie Maunder and Tony Clarke were on the bench.

From the kick off Town recieved with confidence and looked to set about their game plan. Early carries from Dean Smith, Brent Rikalans and Rob Hough set Town up with decent field position which enabled fly half Kieran Jackson to send backs Joe Madden and Rob Gemmill up through the midfield.

Before long Town were awarded a penalty on the 10 metre line and Joe Madden looked to secure the three points but the penalty fell just wide.

It did not deter the Tamworth men who came flying back at Leek following the resulting drop out, Danny Norton making huge yardage everytime the ball found itself in his hands. The game was being played at a frenetic pace at this point.

Once again Tamworth were pressing in the Leek 22 and although it was not the prettiest rugby, it was effective. A series of pick and go carries were pressing the Leek try line when the referee blew his whistle for a Leek player entering at the side and showed him a yellow card.

Town opted to take the scrum under the posts but much to the dismay of the pack and the crowd scrum half John Borthwick was pinged for a feed and Leek cleared their lines to relieve the pressure.

It became apparent at this point who was going to win the battle in the line out as Leek stole Tamworth's ball yet again and released their dangerous fly half who picked out a powerful runner in the midfield. Fortunately town had some powerful defenders who were equal to the task and he was stopped just outside the town 10 metre line.

Leek constantly looked to release their backs but the 'hot defence' Tamworth had worked on in training was effective and the Leek fly half was forced in field time and time again.

The leek 10 then began to find space around the breakdowns and down the blindside and after 20 minutes he released his full back and winger down the blindside to run in the first try of the game.

Town remained calm and once again pressed on up the field from the next kick off. Norton, Eubie Saayman and Dan Wayne were making good yards with every carry and eventually Tamworth were back in the 22. A nice line break from flanker Brent Rikalans led to Town being awarded another penalty, this one in much closer to the sticks. Unfornately Norton's effort fell just inches wide of the post.

Just seconds later from the 22 drop out rookie winger Rob Gemmil popped up again with a great catch and carry only to find himself being carried off with a ligament injury. With limited options on the bench Scott Pearce had to fill in on the wing.

Unfortunately Town's defensive discipline and structure was creaking and Leek knocked over 2 penalties. Town went in 11-0 down at the break.

Almost immideately after the break Leek came back with another well worked wide try, outstripping the home side defence for pace followed almost immediately by another penalty and suddenly Town were staring down the barrel of a 21 point defecit.

Town continued to work hard though and eventually their efforts were rewarded as Rob Hough crashed over for a short range try and towns first points of the afternoon. Norton converted to make it 21-7.

The game continued in this same fashion for some time - Town working hard and punching a more direct route with Leek playing more attractive rugby trying to spread the ball wide.

On the half hour mark that is exactly what they did and a pre planned move sent their full back racing down the touch line only for John Borthwick to produce an immense try saving ankle tap. He only delayed the inevitable though as Town cleared their lines the Leek back three combined superbly to run in their third try in the opposite corner. 28-7.

The momentum looked as though it might change as the Leek second row was given a red card on 61 minutes for a dangerous tackle. Town however responded with indiscipline of their own as flanker Brent Rikalans was sin-binned on 66 minutes.

Once again Leek came back with another try from distance. The fitness and pace of the away side was starting to show at this point.

Town stuck at it though and a series of tap penalties saw Madden make a line break and release Kieran Jackson who made valuable yards up the field. This led to a series of strong carries from the Town men and eventually John Borthwick gave Callum Render the chance to bounce the Leek winger off and score in the corner. 35-12.

Town then spent the last few minutes throwing everything at the Leek defence but as they looked to exploit an overlap the Leek centre intercepted the pass and sprinted in from 80 to finish the game 42-12.

A tough afternoon for Tamworth and things will not get any easier as they face Ludlow and Moseley Oak in the next fortnight.

There were decent spells of rugby from Town in which they more than matched the Leek side but the fact is they were not capable of producing it for 80 minutes and the fitness and pace of Leek was their undoing eventually.