After winning against the odds at Veseyans last week KC’s,again having to contend with unavailability problems,were brought back to earth with a bump by a Camp Hill side who enjoyed a considerable height and weight advantage which they eventually made pay.
During the opening exchanges it was all Camp Hill and after winning two very kickable penalties but deciding not to go for goal they not surprisingly went ahead after twelve minutes when their forwards drove over and loosehead prop Dan O’Grady got the touchdown.KC’s briefly flickered into life with a strong run by centre George Morgan but did not help their cause by throwing in not straight at two lineouts and then midway through the half they knocked on twice in quick succession in their own 22 with the second transgression being deemed deliberate,resulting in a yellow card for No 11 Mike Humphries and a penalty try for the visitors which was simply converted by their flyhalf Simon Edwards to establish a 12-0 lead.
Kidder had hardly been in the game but after twenty five minutes they at last began to get a foothold and from a scrum in Camp Hill’s 22 right wing Owen Jones threatened the tryline but had put a foot in touch.Play was soon back at KC’s end of the field and when a little attempted kick out of defence was blocked the visitors quickly worked the ball to their No 14 Rob Freeman who crossed for their third try with only half an hour played.
Kidder responded with their best phase of handling so far and when it came to nothing play was brought back for an earlier penalty offence by the visitors to present the hosts with their first real opportunity of the afternoon but the kick at goal was wide.KC’s were,however,now looking a lot livelier and six minutes before the break Morgan combined well with fellow centre Rhys Pritchard,back in the fold after nine months in Australia,to get behind Camp Hill and set up a ruck from which the ball was moved right to Jones who celebrated his return to the club and first appearance for several years with a try which reduced the deficit to 17-5.The score was just reward as KC’s backs looked sharp whenever able to launch one of their sporadic attacking forays but the problem was that they just had not had enough of the ball to play with.
Three minutes into the second half KC’s had a let off when Edwards surprisingly missed a straightforward penalty chance but four minutes later he was given an even easier kick when Kidder were penalised for coming in at the side of a ruck and this time he made no mistake.KC’s then had a huge slice of luck when replacement lock Simon Clarke was allowed to gallop away for a try after the referee had missed a blatant forward pass in the build up and the conversion by skipper Chris Pinner cut the arrears to 20-12.
The home side surged back onto the attack from the re-start with a flowing move down the right and Jones offloaded inside to Morgan who handed on to Pritchard and although his run to the line was almost halted by a last ditch tackle he just managed to get the ball down and the try was well converted by Pinner to bring KC’s to within one point at 20-19.The visitors were clearly rattled,with two much better Kidder scrums seeing their confidence continue to build and when Camp Hill dropped the ball in midfield the hosts put together a series of concerted fluid attacks with backs and forwards combining seamlessly and they came close to scoring again but were denied when the referee ruled there had been a double movement.
KC’s were now well on top and looked poised to go on and snatch another unlikely win but midway through the half disaster struck as they shot themselves in the foot with a misplaced pass which went straight to grateful right wing Freeman who had an unopposed run in to dot down under the posts for a gift wrapped bonus point try and Edwards’ conversion left Kidder requiring two scores.
With the home side deflated the momentum swung back to Camp Hill again and from a five metre scrum replacement Stephen Halbert picked up at the back to plunge over and Edwards added the extras.
In the last fifteen minutes KC’s continued to try and run the ball and with the last play of the game fullback Andy McLellan and Morgan made a length of the field breakout from their own 22 but a kick ahead into the in goal area was booted off the park by the visitors to end the game and they were ultimately good value for their win.
On 24th September KC’s host Berkswell & Balsall in the RFU Intermediate Cup..