In the end KC’s were unable to stop the Moseley Oak juggernaut which is running away with Mids 2 West (N),having now racked up eighty three points out of a possible eighty five,but they made a pretty good fist of it with a hugely committed performance and certainly left nothing out on the pitch.
Playing with the cold wind at their backs blowing into the right corner,Kidder made a confident start on a dreadful surface and they had the first chance of the match after five minutes when the hosts were penalised on their own ten metre line but although the kick at goal by skipper Chris Pinner comfortably had the distance it drifted wide and three minutes later the visitors found themselves behind when Moseley’s fullback ran a lovely line before sending his left wing in at the corner.
Undeterred,for the next twenty minutes KC’s gave as good as they got with flanker Mike Protheroe putting in some eye catching chop tackles and Andy McLellan,playing at inside centre,using his boot to turn Moseley around and some very effective Kidder scrummaging also gave cause for optimism but just before the half hour mark Oak’s forwards drove into the 22 from a lineout on the ten metre line and when the ball was released to the backs their vastly experienced flyhalf Ollie Thomas,supported by his fullback,got in behind KC’s before the ball was moved right to the No 14 who finished smartly at the corner to double the lead to 10-0.
Kidder’s attacking play had thus far been rather too static but from the re-start excellent pressing earned them a scrum and from the resultant possession McLellan prodded through a beautifully weighted grubber kick for outside centre George Morgan to gather and touch down by the posts and with Pinner adding the extras the visitors were right back in the game.
Another good Kidder scrum to reverse the put in was followed by a penalty to five metres and at the throw Oak’s No 8 Neil Mason was yellow carded.KC’s went for another lineout but this time the ball was stolen and the whistle blew seconds later to bring to an end a forty minutes from which they could take a great deal of encouragement.
However,the second half began with a string of penalties to Moseley which,predictably,Thomas kicked to the right corner and after five minutes their forwards spun infield from a five metre lineout for second row Duncan White to crash over and Thomas converted.To make matters worse for Kidder,lock Simon Clarke was shown yellow for trying to prevent the score by pulling down the maul,temporarily reducing both sides to fourteen men. The home side were now getting on top and after driving KC’s back over their own line they kicked the scrum ball to the right corner and appeared to have scored but after some debate the referee correctly ruled that Kidder had in fact got a hand on the ball first and the “try” was not given.Nonetheless,Moseley’s relentless stream of penalties to the corner were beginning to really hurt the visitors and when they inexplicably stood off a lineout fifteen metres out Oak’s forwards went over virtually unopposed with Michael McGuire grounding the ball to open up a 22 -7 advantage.
Against the wind,Kidder were struggling to get out of their own mudbath 22 but midway through the half they managed to get the ball to right wing Josh Winfield and he made good ground out of defence to kickstart a fine spell of sustained attacking rugby,the best of the match,during which KC’s retained possession and recycled the ball really well until they eventually lost it and Thomas put in a long relieving clearance kick.A Moseley lineout routine at the left corner was this time well defended and No 8 Layton Wilkinson led a breakout to the ten metre line but prop Joe Nicklin was controversially penalised for driving up his opposite number at a scrum where Kidder seemed to have the upper hand.Thomas,who more or less ran the second half,sent them back into their 22 and a succession of quickly taken Moseley penalties put them under immense pressure which culminated in a yellow card for Wilkinson with six minutes remaining and two late tries for the home side.Immediately after the No 8’s dismissal Oak drove over from a five metre lineout for another forwards try,converted by Thomas,and with the last play of the game the flyhalf’s crossfield kick was well taken by Mason who sent his No 11 over for the winger’s second try that gave the scoreline a slightly lopsided look which did not do justice to the amount of effort Kidder had put into the game but did reflect the league leaders overall superiority and better game management.
Next week KC’s have a re-arranged league match at Veseyans following the postponement of the original fixture on 16th January – KO 3.00 pm.