For a variety of reasons KC’s were missing a whole host of regular first teamers for the opening fixture of their 2016-17 Mids 2 West (N) campaign and were so depleted that they could only put two substitutes on the bench but the players who were available to take the field stepped up to the plate and did the club and themselves proud to come away with an unlikely but deserved narrow win.
In the very first minute skipper Chris Pinner had a penalty opportunity from the Veseyans ten metre line but although the distance was no problem his effort drifted just wide and after eight minutes KC’s fell behind when the hosts No 12 kicked a penalty from a similar distance.On the quarter of an hour mark Kidder struck back with the first try of the afternoon when centre George Morgan,attacking down the right but running out of options,kicked ahead into the corner and his brother Freddie followed up to take advantage of a mistake by the last defender,pinching the ball to touch down for a 5-3 lead.
Five minutes later Veseyans No 4 was yellow carded for a deliberate knock on and KC’s wasted no time making them pay with a second try which owed everything to the sheer persistence of George Morgan,again attacking down the right.Two or three times he looked as though he would be stopped but he just would not be denied and made the most of some more Veseyans hesitancy to score wide out.
A quarter of the match had now been played and the signs were very encouraging for KC’s.Their makeshift pack was shoving the home side back at every scrum,they were putting in the tackles and with hooker Chris Jones throwing in with unerring accuracy Mike Protheroe was ruling the lineouts.With the wet conditions and greasy ball causing handling problems for both sides they had been largely untroubled defensively and after more good work by the forwards they set up camp in Veseyans left corner with a series of set pieces.Back row Tom Such was held up following a clean Protheroe catch at a lineout but at the resultant five metre scrum they walked the hosts back over their tryline and from the No 8 position Protheroe picked up to ground the ball and extend the lead to 15-3.
In the last ten minutes of the forty Veseyans finally enjoyed a spell of concerted pressure in KC’s territory and after their No 12 had missed a straightforward penalty chance he made amends with another shot at goal from rather further out with the last action of the half to cut the deficit to 15-6.
Veseyans began the second period determined to move the ball around to try and open up Kidder’s miserly defence and when KC’s missed a penalty to touch they ran the ball back from halfway with some precise passing and a try at the right corner looked on until the ball was spilled forward with the line beckoning.Five minutes later an interception by Veseyans on their own 22 sparked another breakout and again almost a try and although KC’s escaped the home side were knocking on the door and most of the play was now taking place in and around Kidder’s 22.Dogged defence kept Veseyans at bay and midway through the half,following a rare KC’s attacking sortie,the hosts were caught offside in front of their posts and Pinner made no mistake with the penalty from fifteen metres to give the visitors some breathing space at 18-6.
However,Veseyans responded immediately with a try at the corner by their right wing after putting lineout possession through the hands and now only seven points ahead KC’s were in for a tough last twenty minutes but they continued to battle.giving as good as they got,until with time almost up Veseyans were awarded a free kick at a scrum in a good attacking position from which they launched one last assault which culminated in another try at the right corner to bring them to within two points.The difficult conversion attempt with the last kick of the game was just wide and the spoils went to Kidderminster whist the home side had to settle for the consolation of a losing bonus point.
This winning start by KC’s was as impressive as it was unexpected and the selectors will have a headache of the nicest kind when they sit down to pick the squad to play Camp Hill at home on 17th September – KO 3.00 pm.