Having won the reverse fixture 73-19 at home back in October, KC’s looked to be well on course to register their first double of the season when they went into the break at Lilleshall Road leading 22-12 but in the second half Newcastle’s remorseless pack of forwards ground them down and once again Kidder ended up with only the disappointment of a narrow losing bonus point defeat.
They got off to a flier with a try in the very first minute as their kick off was booted back at them by the hosts and fielded by left wing Jake Shellis near halfway.He moved the ball right and winger Artur Ciechandwicz then sent a long looping pass to centre Arthur Morgan who used his pace to outflank the cover and score in the corner.
The first scrum of the afternoon saw KC’s ominously driven back and only four minutes into the game it was all square when a relieving Kidder kick was run back at them and Newcastle’s winger went over wide out on the right.
Kidder missed a penalty opportunity after the hosts’ backs had been caught offside but from the 22 drop out they strung together some promising phases until penalised for not releasing.Newcastle in turn made good use of lineout possession and both sides were looking dangerous with ball in hand but it was another penalty chance which saw the visitors retake the lead midway through the half with a successful kick by skipper Chris Pinner.
Just two minutes later fullback Freddie Morgan came into the line and Ciechandwicz took the move on before openside Tom Maher got behind the defence and offloaded for prop Ryan Wainwright to score and Pinner’s conversion extended the lead to 15-5.KC’s dropped Newcastle’s restart and after kicking a penalty to fifteen metres the home side went through ruck phases before putting some width on the ball and finding their tighthead prop in space in midfield and he powered over for a try which was converted by the fullback to bring them back to within three points at 15-12.
Excellent work at the restart by No 8 Mike Protheroe won Kidder a penalty from which flyhalf Andy McLellan found a good touch to establish field position and clean lineout ball and a quickly taken penalty had the hosts under severe pressure which was rewarded with a second try for Wainwright,again improved by Pinner.
It was a ding-dong affair with three tries having been scored in seven minutes,two for KC’s and one for Newcastle,but there was no further scoring in the last ten minutes of the half and the visitors and their small band of hardy supporters were much the happier at the interval with a ten point advantage.
Early in the second half three chasing Newcastle players were closing in on a long kick deep into Kidder territory with only one defender on hand and they were understandably a little aggrieved when play was brought back for an injury to one of their players in their own half but the decision was probably justified as their centre had to leave the field after quite a long delay and was unable to return,play being restarted with a Newcastle scrum on halfway.
KC's were increasingly struggling in the scrums and with quarter of an hour played they paid the price.At a scrum in front of Kidder's posts Newcastle were awarded a penalty and after not surprisingly opting for another pack down they inched towards the line before releasing the ball left and their winger made the most of some weak tackling to go over,with the fullback's conversion attempt striking the near upright.Five minutes later Kidder were slow to react to another long Newcastle kick and when two defenders struggled to deal with an unkind bounce the hosts' No 15 pounced to touch down and his conversion put them ahead for the first time,24-22.
KC's rang the changes to try and shake things up but their lineout,pretty reliable in the first half,appeared to become destabilized and forwards carries were few and far between.It was the home side who were asking all the questions with their flyhalf and fullback kicking astutely to keep the visitors on the back foot and when they were awarded a penalty in font of the sticks the No 15 had no hesitation in going for goal to increase their advantage to five points with twenty five minutes played.
Kidder had hardly had any ball to play with but a couple of silky runs from deep by Freddie Morgan and one or two sniping runs and quickly taken penalties by Pinner at last produced some spark,eventually catching Newcastle offside and Pinner landed the penalty from twenty five metres on the angle to again close the gap to two points.
In the closing stages KC's tried to run the ball from all parts of the pitch in an effort to save the game but there was a hint of desperation about their play and indiscipline also began to creep in,not helping their cause.At the death centre George Morgan made a brave run from his own five metre line and it looked for a fleeting moment as though he might just go all the way but he was stopped and the Staffordshire side held on for a win which considerably eased their relegation worries.