KC 59 – Spartans 10
KC came back to winning ways with a dominant performance to maintain their third-place position in Midland Counties 1 West.
KC began with 10 minutes in the Spartans half; from a line-out the ball went loose and was gathered by Tom Kerrigan to score the first try, converted by Jack O’Hagan. This was followed by a chip through from Alfie Smith, picked up by Ryan Tiene on halfway and he sprinted in to score a good try converted by Jack O’Hagan. KC then won the ball against the head and Pinner passed to Ted Morgan who set Ryan Tiene for his second try, conversion by O’Hagan.
Spartans got their tails up and put pressure on the KC line, solid defence kept them out with Ryan Wainwright, Ethan Keenan and Alfie Smith making important tackles. KC came back with good possession in the Spartans half and a terrific break by Alfie Smith gained 50 metres, unfortunately he was too quick for the support. KC continued their recent improvement in the line-outs through possession won by Tom Kerrigan and Beau Archer, impressive that Beau was even able to steal some of Spartans ball.
More Spartans pressure in the KC 22; eventually they scored from a five-metre scrum for the half time score to be 21-5 to KC.
The second half started with KC forward pressure and from the possession Lee Wilks drove through to score a well deserved try from 10 metres, O’Hagan converting. KC followed this with two very impressive tries. Firstly they won the ball near the Spartans 22 and Ryan Tiene broke through giving a good pass outside for George Tildesley to score. Then Ryan Tiene made another break from the half way line, passed to Tildesley who then returned a well-judged pass back to Tiene for him to score and complete his hat-trick, Jack O’Hagan converting. KC had scored three tries in the first 10 minutes of the half at a time that they were down to 14 men.
KC kept Spartans on the back foot and were rewarded when man of the match Alfie Smith passed to George Tildesley for him to score, O’Hagan converting. More forward pressure, with attacking moves from captain Ryan Wainwright, took KC close to the line from where Morgan Maxwell was unstoppable to score, O’Hagan again with the extras.
KC forwards and backs were combining to challenge Spartans coming close on several occasions, however as KC relaxed Spartans were able to score their second try from a breakaway against the run of play. In the next move KC woke up and worked the ball to George Tildesley for him to score his third try in the corner.
The good performances from Hakeem Hussain and Morgan Maxwell when coming on as replacements shows the strength in depth of the KC squad; in addition several regular first team players were rested for the game
The game ended with KC victorious at 59 – 10; nine tries and seven conversions for the reliable Jack O’Hagan.
Bob Davies