KCRFC 55 pts Shrewsbury RFC 5 pts

Match report courtesy of Brian Pinner....

KCs eased their way into the second round of the North Midlands Shield with a comfortable win against Shrewsbury, who they will meet in the league later in the season. Forward domination at the set piece laid the platform for the backs to exploit space out wide, and eight tries were scored in total, with six conversions and a penalty.

Sam Taylor came into the side at fly half to replace George Morgan, who picked up an injury in training, and he controlled play well with good distribution and intelligent kicking.

The game started with a few handling errors by both sides, but KCs got into their stride first when Ewan Thompson burst through the defence and Shrewsbury infringed at the breakdown. Sam Taylor kicked the 30 metre penalty, and then cleared the kick-off back into the Shrewsbury half to maintain the pressure. KCs won a line-out on the 5 metre line after 12 minutes, and captain Rob Delahay was driven over the line for a try.

Shrewsbury were finding it difficult to maintain possession, and the solid KCs’ defence kept them in control. A nice break by Taylor and offload to Rhys Pritchard resulted in a try under the posts, which Taylor converted, and he then picked up a charged down kick out of defence to go over for a try which he again converted.

KCs suffered a set-back just before half time when Ben Turner was sent off for a stamping offence, but they scored another try in injury time when Pritchard burst over near the posts following a 5 metre scrum, Taylor again adding the conversion for a 29 point lead.

Shrewsbury started the second half with renewed energy, and they snapped up a dropped pass in midfield to score a try for their first points of the game. KCs made replacements 10 minutes into the half, with Freddie Morgan coming on for Taylor to make his 1st team debut, and Rich Sollom also joining the fray. Shrewsbury continued to show more attacking promise, but Pritchard intercepted a pass near his own line and broke clear. Possession was retained for a number of phases before hooker Elliot Kelsall dummied his way over for a fine try, with Morgan converting.

Shrewsbury tried to gain territory with their kicking game, but full back Jordan Hatch caught everything that came his way and ran the ball back strongly to keep them in their own half.

KCs continued to dominate in all phases as Shrewsbury tired in the final 20 minutes, and Pritchard scored two further long range tries, both converted by Morgan. Another interception, this time by Morgan, turned defence into attack, and as he sprinted down the wing the cover defence closed in. However, an outrageous dummy stopped them in their tracks and he completed an 80 metre solo effort for the final try of the match.

This was an encouraging start to the season for KCs, and they will hope to carry their form into the first league match away at Tamworth on Saturday.