KC’s,the current holders of the North Mids Shield, were made to work very hard in this quarter final tie but eventually prevailed against a spirited and stubborn Stourbridge Lions side who,clearly prioritising their push for promotion,were much changed from the team who had suffered a first league defeat of the season a month ago by a single point at the hands of the same opposition.
The first quarter of an hour was all Kidderminster but despite wave after wave of attacks and a simple penalty opportunity slap in front of the posts which was badly missed they had nothing to show for their total domination and somehow found themselves 7-0 behind when a loose pass in midfield was snatched up by the Lions’ outside centre who galloped away to score under the posts for a sucker counter punch try ,converted by their scrumhalf.It was the first time the home side had been in KC’s half with ball in hand and completely against the run of play and the visitors response was immediate.From a quickly taken penalty halfway between Stour’s ten metre line and their 22 centre George Morgan stabbed a grubber kick towards the right corner and his brother Arthur won the foot race to touch down wide out and reduce the arrears to 7-5.
It was twenty five minutes before the Lions mounted any sort of meaningful attack but they were beginning to find their feet and two minutes later their other centre burst through some suspect tackling to score by the side of the posts and their No 9 again converted to stretch the advantage to 14-5.
Kidder were misfiring,only playing in fits and starts,and with Stour’s blindside standing at No 2 and pinching their lineout ball time and time again their grip on the trophy was slipping.However,halftime arrived without any addition to the score and coach Stuart Eades made wholesale changes,bringing on Alex Royall to play on the right wing,Matt Rigsby at prop and Alex Thompson at fullback with No15 Andy McLellan moving to flyhalf.
The revamp soon paid dividends as six minutes into the second period a strong run by George Morgan sparked a sustained attack which he eventually finished off himself with a try which skipper Chris Pinner,taking over the kicking duties,calmly converted and at 14-12 it was game on.
KC’s continued to lose lineout ball but were given a helping hand when Lions’ No 12,the scorer of their second try,was shown a yellow card and five minutes later at a scrum twenty five metres out on the right hand side they walked Stour back to earn a penalty and unsurprisingly opted for another scrum.They went open from the resultant possession and although McLellan was tackled and held he managed to offload to Pinner who scampered over for Kidder’s third try to put them ahead for the first time and again he added the extras to put the visitors in front 19-14.with just over twenty minutes remaining.
Two minutes later a terrific relieving kick to touch by McLellan was backed up by a rare lineout steal by Chris Baldwin, who had a storming game for the visitors,and the tide was definitely turning in Kidder’s favour.A Stourbridge scrum deep in their 22 was driven back and they were forced to take the ball back over their own goal line to give KC’s a five metre scrum at which Layton Wilkinson picked up at the back and the veteran No 8 extravagantly and somewhat embarrassingly swallow dived over Chris Ashton style for the clinching try,converted by Pinner,and although there was still more than a quarter of an hour to play Kidder remained in comfortable control to secure their place in the semi final.
Kc’s return to league action next week with a home fixture against third placed Walsall – KO 2.15 pm.