Match report Courtesy of Brian Pinner

Old Laurentians RFC 59 pts Kidderminster Carolians RFC 24 pts

Kidderminster Carolians bowed out of the RFU Intermediate Cup in the 2nd Round, suffering a resounding defeat at Old Laurentians. After taking an early lead, and being in control for much of the first half, KCs fell away in the second half as their defence failed to halt the home side’s frequent attacks.

For the third week in succession KCs found themselves playing against a team that had been relegated from a higher league at the end of last season, and their experience at that level was evident in the clinical way they converted the majority of their chances into points.

KCs welcomed back Rhys Pritchard from injury, and he was soon into the action from fullback when he supported a line break from Andy McLellan and was on hand to collect the final pass for a try after just 3 minutes, converted by Chris Pinner. Laurentians reduced the deficit after 10 minutes after a series of forward drives had drawn in the KC’s defence, and when the ball was moved along the backs they had numbers in support score a try wide out on the right.

KCs enjoyed a prolonged period of pressure, as Laurentians tried to clear their lines with defensive kicks, but the back three of Pritchard, Arthur Morgan and debutant Jake Shellis made excellent use of the space ahead of them to create a number of try scoring opportunities. Unfortunately, poor finishing meant that the home side held on, until a scrum on the 22 metre line was secured and a simple pass to Shellis on the left wing gave him space to outpace his opposite number for KCs second try, and a 12 – 5 lead.

That lead was short-lived however, as Laurentians launched their own attacks and scored a try from a quickly taken penalty, with the successful conversion bringing the scores level. The game was proving to be very open, as both sides looked to retain possession through a number of phases, and the referee was reluctant to penalise either side, meaning the only stoppages in play were when the ball was kicked to touch, or a pass was knocked on.

The home side took the lead for the first time on the stroke of half time, when KCs were caught in possession in defence and lost the ball. Missed tackles allowed Laurentians to make ground and touch down near the posts for a converted try and a 19 -12 lead. KCs were very much in contention at this stage of the game, and must have been confident that they could cause an upset in the second half.

Laurentians had other ideas though, and changed their tactics in order to deny KCs’ dangerous runners any counter attacking opportunities. They ran the ball from all areas of the field, and as KCs tired they took advantage of the gaps in the defence to run in 4 more tries in the space of 20 minutes to build an unassailable lead of 45 points to 12. The Laurentians line-out was a constant source of quality possession, and they made ground through the forwards before releasing their backs, who crashed through weak tackling with great regularity.

To their credit KCs continued to work hard when they had the ball, and tries from Shellis and Tom Mayall, with one conversion from Pinner, increased their score. The work rate was not so evident in defence however, and Laurentians finished off the game with two more tries of their own to run out 59 – 24 winners.

KCs return to league action next week, with a home fixture against Newcastle under Lyme. Their next four matches are all against sides in the bottom half of the table, and they will be targeting at least two wins to get their season back on track.