This crucial fixture saw KC’s yet again with no option other than to field a young understrength side with players having to fill in out of position, including four props in their pack, and the defeat leaves them in danger of being cast adrift at the foot of Mids 2 West (N) with only one win and seven points and a third of the season already played.

After only two minutes Ludlow used ruck possession on Kidder’s ten metre line to move the ball right with some slick handling and winger Will Sparrow sped in at the corner for the opening try. The re-start was dropped by Ludlow but with KC’s regaining possession an advantage was played and they made good progress to win a penalty just outside the 22 which skipper Chris Pinner confidently knocked over to quickly reduce the arrears to 5-3.
At the first scrum of the afternoon,on Kidder’s five metre line,they disintergrated alarmingly to concede a penalty which Ludlow kicked into touch but the throw was not straight and at the resulting second five metre scrum KC’s were reassuringly much more solid and when nothing came from a penalty advantage they were able to clear to touch.Unfortunately,the lineout ball was overthrown to gift possession back to the home side and from a midfield ruck they exploited space on the left to send former Kidder player Lawrence Hughes in at the corner and Sparrow converted from the touchline to open up a 12-3 lead with a quarter of an hour on the clock.
Five minutes later Ludlow’s No 8 Dan Rawlings burst from a ruck fifteen metres out and with two defenders hanging on to his shirt but unable to stop him he crossed the whitewash for the hosts’ third try and Sparrow’s straightforward conversion increased the lead to 19-3.The re-start did not go ten metres and some Kidder heads were beginning to drop.Fairly aimless kicking to speedsters Sparrow and fullback Joe Doyle was inviting trouble and they almost conceded again when the No 14 could not quite gather his own kick and chase but having survived a pretty ropy ten minutes or so KC’s seemed to re-group and knuckled down to the job in hand.
Centre Tom Maher and right wing Arthur Morgan combined well to briefly threaten and dangerman Sparrow was then well policed into touch as Kidder covered across in numbers.Committed defence twice stopped Ludlow in their tracks but right on the halftime whistle the visitors suffered another set-back when Sparrow slotted a penalty from thirty five metres.KC’s had certainly shown some improvement towards the end of the half but had not been in the game as an attacking force and,amazingly,had not once set foot in Ludlow’s 22 throughout the whole of the first forty minutes.
The second half began in much the same vein with the home side relentlessly on the front foot but struggling to make any significant inroads against a stubborn Kidder defence,exemplified by a big early hit by Maher.A kick and chase by left wing Alex Royall gave KC’s some respite and then a terrific scrum raised their spirits,with the resulting penalty being kicked to within a metre of the 22.Their throw was lost but the tap back by Ludlow at last saw the ball inside their 22 at the midway point of the second period!
Four minutes later,and against all the odds,KC’s stunned the home side when they were at last able to give Morgan a run and he followed up his own chip ahead to touch down at the right corner for a try which was superbly converted by Pinner to bring the visitors back into the game at 22-10.Growing in confidence,they were now giving Ludlow something to think about but having gone fifty minutes since their last try the increasingly frustrated hosts finally made their territorial dominance pay with two tries in the last ten minutes and it really should have been three.
Firstly,from a scrum on their own ten metre line they worked the ball to Sparrow who skinned his man on the outside before being hauled down in the 22 where the ball was switched left to create an overlap and centre Mark Williams strode over for the bonus point fourth try,improved by Sparrow.
Three minutes later Doyle won the footrace for a kick ahead and clearly dotted the ball down a good foot inside the deadball line but the referee ruled that it had gone out of play and,reprieved by the error,KC’s continued to battle away until the very last play of the match when a clearance kick failed to find touch and was run back at them to fashion a second try for Williams and seal a convincing win for the home side.
The last time KC’s visited The Linney,in October 2014,they ran out 71-19 winners-what a difference three years can make!
Next week KC’s travel to Old Salteians for a North Mids Shield quarter final tie - KO 2-15 pm.