Returning to league action after the Christmas and New Year break,KC’s faced a stiff test at Camp Hill who started the day in second place in Mids 2 West (N) and despite a battling performance they went down by eight points in a match which was high on endeavour but for the most part lacked real quality.
The home side dominated early possession and territory but a string of errors,in particular a wild pass into touch and an obvious forward pass,saw several promising situations go to waste and their profligacy enabled Kidder to keep their line intact.Then,after a kicking exchange,the best chance of the afternoon so far actually fell to the visitors in the eleventh minute with the award of a penalty for a high tackle but the kick at goal from some thirty metres on the angle was wide of the mark.
KC’s were,however,beginning to settle into the game and centre George Morgan and fullback Andy McLellan combined well to punch a hole in midfield but the incursion was ended by a penalty for Camp Hill and the momentum remained with the hosts.
They threatened again from a scrum just inside Kidder’s half after a trademark towering kick by flyhalf Simon Edwards had been dropped but more careless passing and handling let them down.Surging runs by No 8 Rob Hill and openside Rob Hunt kept Kidder on the back foot and after a good lineout steal by captain Mark Newton the visitors backs were caught offside in front of their posts just inside their 22 and they had a huge let off when the usually reliable Edwards horribly miscued his kick.The pressure,though,continued to mount and with half an hour played Camp Hill created space for left wing Sam Garratt to go over for an unconverted try.
As halftime approached KC’s enjoyed a rare decent spell of possession,running the ball well from a scrum on their own 22 to create numbers over on the right until a knock on by the hosts intervened and then from a scrum on Camp Hill’s ten metre line they worked a neat move,only to be thwarted by a forward pass of their own.A dash down the short side by skipper Chris Pinner sent right wing Arthur Morgan on a run which took him past three defenders into the 22 and although hesitation saw him stopped the clearance kick was run back by his brother George who drew another penalty opportunity,the last kick of the half,but again the chance was not taken.Nonetheless,,given the limited amount of ball they had to play with in the first forty minutes Kidder would have been reasonably happy to reach the break only five points behind.
The second period began with Camp Hill again well on top but although KC’s were missing five forwards who were unavailable for selection and also had no specialist lineout jumper they continued to make a contest of it up front.Defending a five metre lineout,a wayward throw by the home side enabled them to pinch the ball and clear their lines and then after holding Camps up over the line they defiantly repelled the hosts’ attempts to go for a pushover try from two five metre scrums.Their resistance was,however,finally broken twelve minutes into the half when Camps hooker Adam Willis burrowed over from a close range ruck for a second unconverted try which doubled their lead and four minutes later another Edwards howitzer saw Camp Hill win the aerial duel and a deft pass out the back of the hand put replacement Ollie Linnett in the clear and he raced away to score in the left corner with Edwards conversion attempt this time striking the crossbar.
Now trailing 15-0,KC’s still tried to play their rugby whenever they could get their hands on the ball but a knock on and a lost lineout soon had them back defending for their lives until they managed to hack the ball all the way from their own 22 right up to Camps’ line and the home side had to kick the ball dead to rescue the situation,giving Kidder a five metre scrum under the posts.It was a great attacking position but the scrum was disrupted,resulting in a penalty for Camp Hill and a yellow card for prop Matt Rigsby.Despite the disappointment the fourteen men still stuck at it and four minutes from time they got some reward with an interception try from halfway by centre Rhys Pritchard which flyhalf Freddie Morgan converted,remarkably the only successful goal kick of the entire game.
All in all,this was a frustrating afternoon for both teams.Camp Hill,who no doubt will think they should have scored more tries,slipped to fourth in the table as a result of their failure to secure a bonus point and KC’s,who also missed chances to keep the scoreboard ticking,are now five points behind Tamworth in what increasingly appears to be a race for fifth spot between the two sides and Stafford.
Next week KC’s make the short trip to Stourton to take on local rivals Stourbridge Lions in the North Mids Shield. KO – to be confirmed.