Match Report Courtesy of KC's Press Secretary Martin Easton.....

What a nail-biter! Sometimes the result is more important than the performance and this was certainly one of those games as KC’s somehow emerged with four precious points from a bruising encounter against a physical Pershore side fighting for their lives to avoid the drop.
Kept on the front foot by their No 10 who used the wind well to find a succession of excellent touches,the opening quarter was nearly all Pershore and they deservedly took the lead after twenty two minutes when KC’s got their defensive alignment all wrong to allow the hosts No 11 to cut through for the opening try.With more than half an hour played KC’s still could not get any sort of foothold in the game until they won turnover ball on their own ten metre line and were able to go through a series of phases for the first time before flyhalf Andy McLellan put in an astute diagonal grubber kick which was well chased by fullback Mark James and centre Nick Martin.A favourable bounce was collected by James who fed Martin and he strode over unopposed for the equalising try which McLellan converted to put KC’s ahead 7-5.From the restart Pershore put yet more pressure on the visitors but the home side let themselves down with some sloppy passing and handling and scrumhalf Chris Pinner was eventually able to put in a relieving clearance kick.Pershore tried to run the ball back but were stopped in their tracks by a crunching tackle by centre Jake Evetts and when the hosts were penalised at the breakdown McLellan knocked over the kick from thirty five metres to give KC’s a 10-5 halftime advantage,albeit somewhat against the run of play.
Four minutes into the second half Pershore’s left wing made good ground before kicking ahead and from the resultant ruck the hosts moved the ball inside and their No 8,who was a thorn in KC’s side all afternoon,made the most of some flimsy tackling to cross for a try which was converted to put the home side back in the lead,12-10.Some indecisive officiating saw the rucks and mauls degenerate into a free for all and the game became fractious with tempers close to boiling over.KC’s strategy in the second period was clearly to use the wind to establish territory but they were being outmuscled by Pershore’s forwards and could not get the ball to McLellan’s trusty left boot.To add to their woes,on the few occasions when they were able to get field position they struggled to win their own lineout ball and it was therefore something of a surprise when Alex Baldwin stole a Pershore throw to at last put the home side under some pressure,forcing them to concede a penalty.McLellan converted from twenty five metres to put KC’s back ahead 13-12 but Pershore were straight back on the attack and they retook the lead with a second try for their No 8 who powered over from a quickly taken tap penalty after KC’s threes were caught offside.The conversion stretched the advantage to 19-13 and left KC’s with everything to do.With time running out Evetts was held up on the tryline but Pershore’s forwards were beginning to tire and were penalised at a scrum for a binding offence.KC’s put the penalty into touch and managed to secure possession which culminated in McLellan breaking several tackles to touch down by the side of the posts and reduce the deficit to just one point at 19-18.The conversion should have been a formality but,incredibly,the No 10 put his kick wide and with time added on already being played KC’s opportunity seemed to have gone.However,on the final whistle they were awarded another penalty and McLellan was given the chance to redeem himself with the very last kick of the match.This time he made no mistake and the crestfallen home side could only stand and watch as the ball sailed between the posts.
Pershore will no doubt consider themselves to be hard done by but KC’s showed great character to dig out the victory,their first away win of the season which also completed the double over their local rivals.