Spartans 22 KC 42
KC opened their account with a super move, starting with a good pass after a set scrum from Chris Pinner. The ball was fed through Tom Dalton and George Tildesley to Malcolm Herbert who outpaced the Spartan’s defence to score; Dalton making the conversion. KCs next try came following a great move through the three-quarters for Ryan Tiene to score near the right-hand touch; Chris Pinner making the conversion. In the forwards Simon Clarke and Ethan Keenan made telling contributions with the ball.
Against the run of play Spartans lofted a kick which was not gathered by KC and they were able to follow-up and score a converted try. Both sides converted penalties, Pinner kicking the points for KC. The KC three-quarters were involved in the next score finished by Ryan Tiene for his second try. Tiene was prominent in several other attacks and he tackled well. The first half finished with another Pinner penalty to leave the score at 10-25 to KC.
The KC forwards pushed into the left-hand corner for a try scored by Lee Wilkes who is enjoying scoring tries in the autumn of his career. Spartans were down to 14 men when their player was red carded for a dangerous high tackle. KC then scored a text book try as the ball was expertly fed from Tom Dalton, through Jack Dayus and George Lloyd Jones for George Tildesley to touch down.
KC next try was a long distance affair coming from a George Tildesley move near the KC 22, he passed to George Lloyd Jones on the Spartan’s ten metre who then sprinted to gain a try near the posts to earn the bonus point. Chris Pinner making the conversion. KC received two yellow cards in quick succession so for a while the game become 14 Spartans players against 13 KC players. Chris Pinner was awarded man of the match for his kicking and overall marshalling of the various attacking moves and good tackling.
Following a forward move KC thought they had scored another try, however the referee decided a second movement after the tackle had taken place.
Spartans scored a further try when the usually reliable KC defence inexplicably lost their shape. Then in the dying moments of the game sloppy play from KC dropped the ball near their 10 metre line allowing Spartans to hack on and win the race to touchdown. This left the final score at Spartans 22 KC 42, which was not a true reflection of the KC superiority in this game.
KC have a back line with some of the fastest three-quarters in our league. The majority of the tries in this game and several of the previous games has come through the three-quarters so should we play to our strengths?
Bob Davies