Perhaps not surprisingly,a much changed Kidderminster side produced a disjointed performance which saw them slump to a disappointing defeat against a Yardleians team they had beaten comfortably at Marlpool Lane in December.
Debutant colt Alfie Smith,playing at blindside flanker,made an immediate impact with a crunching tackle at the very first ruck but a raking kick to touch by the Yards flyhalf set up early field position for the home side.Although the immediate danger was cleared KC’s were penalised on their own ten metre line after trying to counter from deep and another fine kick by the No 10 set up an attacking lineout from which his forwards drove over with the tighthead prop grounding the ball and the fullback converting for a 7-0 lead after only five minutes.
With ten minutes played Kidder were beginning to edge their way into the game but when an intended kick through by player coach Andy McLellan only found the arms of Yards’ No 12 inside his own half the centre had just enough gas to outrun his pursuers and score under the posts and the fullback’s simple conversion doubled the hosts advantage.
Following this set-back KC’s proceeded to make things even more difficult for themselves.Firstly,a penalty kick to touch was misdirected into the in goal area and to compound the error Yards resultant 22 drop out was allowed to bounce into touch,not really advisable as Kidder’s lineout was also struggling.Then,when a swinging arm on McLellan enabled the visitors to kick the penalty to eight metres they knocked on at the back of the lineout and the boot of Yards No 10 cleared their lines.Shortly afterwards a knock on in midfield saw the hosts put their right wing away and it took a good tackle by fullback Alex Sparks to prevent another try.After again missing a penalty to touch Kidder were living dangerously and fifteen minutes before the break they fell further behind following a Yards lineout drive which took them from halfway to the ten metre line where the ball was released and their inside centre cut a good line to win a penalty on the 22 which their No 15 knocked over to increase the lead to 17-0.
Five minutes later another high tackle on McLellan in front of the posts gave skipper Chris Pinner the chance to at last get KC’s on the board but they were quickly punished when they missed yet another penalty kick to touch and Yards No 14 picked up the ball before taking advantage of some blocking to run in from thirty metres for a try which the fullback again converted.At the re-start more Yardley blocking off was this time spotted and the penalty found touch in their 22.A clean catch by Jack Tunstall provided the necessary momentum but although No 8 Layton Wilkinson and Pinner both almost got over the whitewash KC’s had to settle for a penalty under the posts which they decided to run but made a mess of.However,on the stroke of halftime a decent five metre scrummage won a second penalty and they opted for another scrum from which some sparkling Pinner footwork almost got him over and when he was stopped just short quick ball gave prop Matt Rigsby a chink of space to plunge over with Pinner’s conversion giving KC’s some hope as they closed the gap to 24-10.
At the start of the second half Kidder exerted better control and after five minutes had the first scoring opportunity but Pinner’s penalty attempt from thirty metres had a bit too much height and drifted wide on the wind.Yardley kicked deep from the drop out but KC’s worked hard to progress from their 22 up to halfway where a terrific scrum shoved the hosts off their own ball to earn a penalty which was kicked to the 22,only for the throw to be pinched by Yards and the lost lineout cost the visitors a huge amount of ground as a massive kick by Yards flyhalf forced Kidder to drop out from their own 22.There then followed a long stoppage as the referee and Yardley’s coaches debated whether an injured player who had left the field should be allowed to return but when play resumed KC’s lineout problems persisted with a crooked throw and they were then penalised at a scrum.A scuffle on the floor involving McLellan and Yards’ No 7 was followed by a lengthy scrappy period of play until Yards’ fullback kicked his second penalty just past the half hour mark to break the second half deadlock and their No 10 then turned defence into attack when he tapped a free kick deep in Yards territory to himself before launching a massive punt which took play to the other end of the pitch and their No 15 maintained his 100% record with the boot by kicking another penalty from in front of the posts.To complete a pretty forgettable afternoon for KC’s McLellan was yellow carded four minutes from time and the match was not one that will live long in the memory.
Although there were long periods when KC’s did not see very much of the ball they did improve in the second half but the game was lost in the error strewn first forty minutes when they simply failed to execute the basics well enough. Yardleians were good value for their win and Kidder will be looking for a lot better when they play their last home fixture of the season next week against Shrewsbury – KO 3.00 pm.