Match report courtesy of Martin Easton...

Bedworth is a difficult place to play for visiting teams with its tight,narrow sloping pitch and any win at this venue has to be hard earned.So it proved for KC’s who eventually scraped home by the skin of their teeth but the four points moved them into third spot in Mids 2 West (South),one point ahead of Droitwich who lost narrowly at Dunlop.The Wychavon side do however have a game in hand,albeit away to second placed Kenilworth.
Kidder got off to a flier with a converted try in the first minute when fullback Rhys Pritchard’s clearance kick was backed up with a good chase by right wing Nick Martin who harried his opposite number.The ball was hacked over the hosts’ tryline under their posts and eluded players from both sides before squirting out of the melee to flanker Ben Binnion who was on hand for the vital touchdown.Flyhalf Chris Pinner duly added the extras.
The home side were level within ten minutes with a converted try of their own when KC’s were caught offside in their 22 and a quickly taken tap penalty sent Bedworth’s centre under the posts.
KC’s responded with a period of sustained pressure but Bedworth’s strong scrum and solid defence kept them out until midway through the half when a Pinner penalty put the visitors back in front 10-7.A good claim on the ground by skipper Rob Delahay,a well taken catch from a 22 drop out by Stuart Sims which he backed up with a typical prop’s charge plus an astute chip over Bedworth’s defence by Pritchard all helped to keep KC’s on the front foot and they won several kickable penalties in or around the hosts’22 but mostly opted to go to touch for lineouts which all came to nothing and having not taken their chances it was a question of whether a three point interval lead would be enough with Bedworth having the slope and wind in their favour in the second half.
From the restart Bedworth put together some good passages of play but KC’s stemmed the tide ,running the ball out of defence to take play up to their ten metre line where they won a penalty and the hosts’ No 9 was yellow carded for violent conduct.KC’s kicked to touch and secured the lineout but knocked on inside Bedworth’s 22.The home side tried to run the ball from the scrum but an interception by Laurence Hughes saw the centre go over unopposed to extend the lead to 15-7.
KC’s were now starting to run Bedworth around and another score seemed on the cards when centre Mitchell Hardwick broke through the midfield and looked to be clean away until he was tap tackled and some smart footwork by Martin also threatened the hosts’ line.As it was,they had to settle for a second Pinner penalty to increase their advantage but a moment of madness brought Bedworth back into the game.KC’s were awarded a penalty in their own 22 but the opportunity to clear their lines was spurned when some back chat to the referee caused him to reverse his decision and the simple penalty reduced the deficit to 18-10.
Pritchard and No 7 Rob Phillips combined well along the left touchline to again turn defence into attack and Jack Tunstall then stole a lineout to put the pressure back on the home side but after a lengthy stoppage for treatment to an injured Bedworth player KC’s seemed to lose concentration and the hosts came back yet again with a big effort which culminated in them forcing their way over for a try to cut the arrears to just three points with only seven minutes left,making for a tense finish.KC’s needed to play out the game in Bedworth’s 22 and they did so successfully until with barely a minute remaining they inexplicably gave away possession attempting a chip kick rather than keeping ball in hand.A long kick down the slope took play into KC’s 22 and they continued to make life hard for themselves by trying to run out of trouble instead of finding the safety of touch.Bedworth won turnover ball and with their winger in acres of space looked certain to snatch the points at the death but the pass was tantalisingly too far in front of him,he could only get fingertips to it and the knock on saved the day for Kidder with the home side having to settle for a deserved bonus point.
KC’s were missing a number of important players and regardless of their eleventh hour slice of good fortune it is a measure of their progress that this is a match they probably would not have won twelve months ago.