From KC’s point of view this match was a slow burner,only really sparking into life late on with twenty five unanswered points in the last half hour but in the end they ran out comfortable bonus point winners for the third game in a row to consolidate their fifth spot in Mids 2 West (N).
Centre Rhys Pritchard and Stafford’s flyhalf Louis Dewsbury exchanged early penalties and the first threat in open play came from a lineout in Kidder’s half when scrumhalf and skipper Chris Pinner,Hillandale Caravans man of the match,spotted space in front of him and made a midfield break which created an overlap on the left but a poor final pass saw the ball roll harmlessly into touch.However,moments later scrum possession was won on halfway and this time quick hands put in right wing Arthur Morgan at the corner for an 8-3 lead with twelve minutes played.The hosts then conceded two penalties in quick succession and had a let off from the second as Dewsbury went for goal but was off target.
The next threat came from KC’s who went over from a close range lineout but knocked on in the process and then a wayward throw coupled with indiscipline at the breakdown gave Stafford chances to play on the front foot before an unconvincing kick out of defence was run back at Kidder and the visitors’ No 8 Carl Williams rounded off the attack to level the scores after twenty five minutes.
Two Kidder short throw routines were picked off by Stafford to provide them with yet more ball than they should have had and at this stage they looked the more likely side as,apart from one eye catching move triggered by centre Andy McLellan and fullback Andy Holloway,more poor discipline,handling errors and occasional suspect tackling continued to plague the home side.It was therefore somewhat against the run of play when two minutes before the break a clever McLellan grubber kick to the left corner just stayed in play and winger Jake Shellis did tremendously well to stay infield himself and control the difficult bouncing ball with his knee before dropping on it for a fine finish.Pritchard’s excellent conversion attempt from the touchline struck the far post and despite a rather below par first half performance KC’s had a barely deserved 13-8 interval lead and the game was still there for the taking by either side.
The opening quarter of an hour of the second half was all Stafford but as at Shrewsbury the previous week Kidder again defended resolutely and the visitors did not help themselves by blowing a two on one and also knocking on with the line at their mercy.They had nothing to show for all their possession and effort and with some of their forwards now clearly beginning to tire KC’s had the backs to exploit the gaps which were starting to appear.From a Stafford scrum on halfway McLellan charged down a kick and claimed the ball on the ground to get the hosts moving at last and the two Morgan brothers,Freddie and Arthur,combined well before the ball was switched inside to Pinner and his try opened up a bit of daylight for the first time at 18-8.Four minutes after this score Pritchard knocked over a penalty from between halfway and Stafford’s ten metre line and although he missed a further opportunity Stafford then had Williams yellow carded and Kidder took immediate advantage.The penalty was kicked to five metres and a clean catch at the lineout by Mike Protheroe was rewarded with a well timed pass by Freddie Morgan to a determined McLellan who crashed through the tackles and stretched over under the posts,Pritchard’s conversion extended the lead to 28-8 and after he had added his third penalty some slick handling sent in Shellis for his second try with Pritchard adding the extras to finish Stafford off.
Next week KC’s travel to Edwardians for a North Mids Shield cup tie – KO 2.15 pm.