KC’s could hardly have made a worse start at second placed Kenilworth as their scrumhalf Gareth Renowden darted over from a ruck under Kidder’s posts for the opening score with barely a minute played and fullback Tom Kendall added the extras but they struck back in less than five minutes.Andy McLellan kicked a penalty to touch and from the resulting lineout ball the flyhalf cut inside his would be tackler to touch down for a try which was improved by Chris Pinner to draw the sides level at 7-7.

With KC’s now on the front foot,right wing Mitchell Hardwick and No 5 Rob Phillips combined well but the lock was injured as he was forced into touch and had to leave the field.The visitors then suffered further disruption when prop Ben Turner also had to go off with a shoulder problem and,already without the Baldwin twins and Tom Maher,KC’s were now missing five of their first pick forwards but the replacements stepped up to the plate to show the value of the club’s new strength in depth.The number of absentees did,however,put pressure on the lineout because the opposition knew that more often than not the ball would go to Ben Binnian and he was a marked man but still coped pretty well.
A patched up Phillips was able to return but midway through the half the hosts restored their lead with a Kendall penalty.Two minutes later left wing Arthur Chiverton broke from the fringe of a ruck on halfway and his strong run resulted in a penalty for KC’s which they put into touch.The throw was not straight but they won the scrum against the head,only to be penalised for a dubious crossing offence and nothing much was going their way.Then,not for the first time this season,a skewed kick from hand which went straight up in the air without gaining any distance put Kidder in trouble.Kenilworth won the aerial battle for the ball and their No 14 Jimmy Middleton popped up in midfield to inject some pace before sending in Renowden for his second try despite the best efforts of Paul Stride to stop him and Kendall’s conversion extended the home side’s advantage to 17-7.Another powerful run by Chiverton from halfway took play into Kenilworth’s 22 but KC’s could not press home the opportunity and although the halftime scoreline was perhaps a little harsh on the balance of play,Kidder’s failure to finish off a number of half chances was costing them.
They did not make a great start to the second half as missed tackles allowed Kenilworth to progress down the left before moving the ball to the right where Middleton appeared to be held but escaped to run in under the posts with only two minutes on the clock.Kendall added the two points and it took KC’s ten minutes to establish their first attacking platform with a lineout in the hosts’ 22 but despite a spell of concerted pressure they were unable to capitalise.Kidder looked vulnerable whenever Kenilworth broke from open play,particularly when Middleton had ball in hand,and on the quarter of an hour mark seemed likely to concede again but the home side knocked on with men over.However,from a lineout on halfway they went right before switching the ball back left and their captain,hooker Jonny Cresswell,evaded some questionable tackling to cross for the bonus point try.
Now trailing 29-7,KC’s understandably opted to run a number of penalties they were awarded in the shadow of Kenilworth’s posts and their persistence paid off when prop Matt Rigsby crashed over.The recovery was halted when Kidder lost a lineout on their ten metre line and the home side fed the ball along their threes to their No 11 before it was moved back inside to centre Dom Sheehan whose try was again improved by Kendall.Behind 36-12 with only ten minutes to play KC’s could have thrown in the towel but once again showed their resilience and spirit.Sustained pressure brought a well deserved try for Phillips and with the last play of the match a fine finish by promising youngster Hardwick,his first senior try in only his second game, remarkably notched up yet another bonus point to take KC’s total to 12,the highest in the league.
Despite this reverse,KC’s can take positives from the game. In the New Year they have played the top two in Mids 2 West (South) and have scored four tries against both of them,a feat which it is doubtful any other side in the division will match.Rhys Pritchard also made a welcome return and having had the hardest of introductions to league rugby against Laurentians and Kenilworth, Hardwick will surely go on to score many more tries for the club.