This narrow defeat at the hands of a powerful Camp Hill unit leaves Kidderminster marooned in fifth place in Mids 2 West (N),nine points clear of Stafford in sixth but fifteen points shy of Wolverhampton in fourth,albeit with a game in hand.
KC’s made a blistering start,storming into a 12-0 lead inside the opening seven minutes.Firstly,from lineout possession they set up a ruck close to the posts and after two or three thrusts by the forwards hooker Grant Jones burrowed over for his first 1st XV try and skipper Chris Pinner duly converted.The re-start by a rattled Camp Hill did not go ten metres and from the scrumback on halfway Pinner put in a raking kick to the right corner to keep the pressure on the visitors.From the throw they did manage to work their way up to the 22 but then knocked on and from the scrum Kidder fashioned a try from first phase possession,something of a rarity these days,as a well timed pass by outside centre George Morgan to his brother Arthur gave the winger a bit of space to work in and he held off two tacklers to finish well at the corner.
Stung by these early reverses,Camp Hill responded and although they were temporarily reduced to fourteen men whilst injured second row Dan O’Grady received treatment they launched their first real attack of the game.A mark and clearance kick by Pinner followed by a good turnover repelled them initially but KC’s were undone when they carelessly kicked directly into touch from outside their 22.They were penalised at the throw and the visitors kicked the penalty to eight metres from where their lineout drive resulted in a try for flanker Harry Cunningham which was converted by fullback Ian Briggs to reduce the arrears to 12-7.The visitors now had their tails up and just three minutes later,playing a penalty advantage,flyhalf and skipper Simon Edwards followed up his own clever grubber kick to touch down under the posts and Briggs’ routine conversion edged them ahead 14-12.
With twenty five minutes played a missed penalty to touch put KC’s on the back foot again and Camp Hill’s strong direct runners behind the scrum were looking increasingly dangerous although Kidder’s own backs were also asking questions of the visitors’ defence.In an absorbing contest the two sides continued to trade blows but the next real opportunity fell to the home side when they were awarded a penalty in front of the sticks.To general disbelief,Pinner’s kick struck a post and rebounded straight back to him and the scrumhalf tried to make amends by instigating a series of attacks in Camp Hill’s 22 which produced three successive penalties in the danger area but no tangible reward and when the visitors eventually cleared their lines they used lineout possession to drive towards Kidder’s posts but were held up.From the scrum No 8 Layton Wilkinson led a KC’s counter breakout but they were penalised on Camp Hill’s ten metre line to give Briggs a pot at goal but his effort was his only miss of the afternoon and Kidder finished the half on top.A Garryowen by fullback Andy McLellan was knocked on by the visitors on their 22 and from the scrum and subsequent rucks George Morgan made a break down the short side which opened up Camp’s defence but the final pass did not quite go to hand.Another attack spearheaded by Arthur Morgan forced Camp Hill to carry the ball over their own tryline but before Kidder could take advantage the halftime whistle blew with the match still very much in the balance.
KC’s began the second half in much the same vein as the first and four minutes in some fine attacking phases were finished off by George Morgan as he latched on to an astute kick by McLellan and crossed for a try which Pinner converted to put them back in front,19-14.
Kidder were now trying to up the tempo but several excellent field positions came to nothing as they suddenly lost a string of lineouts on their own throw and they paid the price when Camp Hill attacked in waves from a tap penalty in KC’s 22.Some last ditch defence kept the visitors out and a 22 drop out gave the hosts a chance to regroup but the kick was taken too hastily and KC’s allowed Camp Hill to run the ball back at them virtually unchallenged.Not looking a gift horse in the mouth,left wing Rob Freeman accepted a pass from fellow wing Mark Lisle to run in a simple try which Briggs improved to regain the lead at 21-19.
This time KC’s re-start did not go the required distance and from the scrum Camp Hill attacked down the right before switching left and then going back inside to create space for Briggs to go over for the bonus point try which he improved himself with his fourth successful conversion.Trailing 28-19 and beginning to fall off a few tackles,the match appeared to be slipping away from Kidder but they were handed a lifeline midway through the half when Edwards was yellow carded for a deliberate knock on.In his absence KC’s tried to take the game to the visitors but time and again were frustrated by their malfunctioning lineout and although they did manage to create some promising situations their passing was at times not precise enough to capitalise and streetwise Camp Hill did not concede any points while their captain was off the field
Late in the game KC’s did get over the whitewash as George Morgan made a fine run down the left before the ball was passed inside to Pinner who ran around under the posts but a foot had been put in touch and Kidder were thwarted yet again.In the closing minutes they threw the kitchen sink at the visitors,camping on their line and three times almost getting over but just when it seemed they were destined not to score again they moved the ball left and Arthur Morgan went over for his second try,KC’s fourth,which brought them two hard earned bonus points but Camp Hill were much the happier as their five point haul moved them up to second place in the table.
Next week KC’s are away to Handsworth – KO 2.15pm

As many will know,the 1st XV match was preceded by an U14 game on the first team pitch against DK’s and our lads notched up a terrific win,prevailing 46-0.

The Development Squad also merit a mention following their 76-0 rout of Malvern away from home.