Match Report courtesy of Martin Easton...

This was a Jekyll and Hyde performance by KC’s against a Banbury side who arrived at Marlpool Lane on the back of four straight wins and even though they were outscored by five tries to one the visitors could, bizarrely, consider themselves unlucky to leave with nothing. Never was the cliché a game of two halves more appropriate.
In front of a good Chairman’s Day crowd KC’s were quickly out of the blocks and with only two minutes played Banbury’s fullback Andrew Joubert was yellow carded for killing the ball at a ruck on his own tryline. From the penalty Kidder were held up over the line but skipper Rob Delahay broke from the back of the resulting scrum to give them an early 5-0 lead. Banbury then missed a penalty opportunity but regained possession from KC’s 22 dropout and manoeuvred an opening for their captain, No 10 Ed Phillips, to drop a goal. Ten minutes later the visitors lost a lineout on halfway and KC’s created a try scoring chance but the final pass to left wing Mitchell Hardwick was not precise enough and they were made to pay when Banbury, who had hardly threatened, made the most of a rare venture into Kidder’s 22 with a second Phillips drop goal to put them ahead 6-5.KC’s retook the lead when they stole another lineout and Delahay burrowed over for his second try and they stretched away to 17-6 as right wing Nick Martin outpaced Banbury’s wide defence for a try which Pinner improved.
Ten minutes before the break a Banbury penalty kick failed to find touch and fullback Rhys Pritchard sparked a counter attack which saw the ball moved right and a great take off his bootlaces by flanker Tom Maher put Martin in again. Joubert slotted over a penalty from in front of the posts to reduce the arrears to 22-9 but KC’s were cruising and with the bonus point already in the bag they were looking on course for a comfortable win
The second half was, however, a major disappointment for the home side as they failed to build on their advantage and allowed Banbury back into the match. The first fifteen minutes of the second period saw no further scoring but a strangely lacklustre KC’s side had switched off and although an excellent Pritchard tackle momentarily prevented a Banbury try they were able to recycle the ball and Joubert ran around under the posts for a touchdown which he converted himself to reduce the arrears to 22-16.Kidder were conceding penalty after penalty, getting themselves isolated with the support too slow to arrive, and the players and supporters alike were living on their nerves as Banbury piled on the pressure and the apparent formality of a routine win had now been transformed into a battle to avoid defeat. KC’s midfield defence was being breached far too often and with time running out the visitors fashioned an overlap which could well have won them the game but Martin intercepted the potential match changing pass and sprinted almost the length of the field for his hat-trick to clinch a somewhat flattering win for a relieved home side.
Quite simply, in the second half Banbury woke up and Kidder fell asleep-a cocktail which almost proved disastrous. However, the mantra is that successful sides find a way of winning when not at their best and KC’s certainly added weight to that argument with a fairly dismal second half performance which was rescued by Martin’s match saving/winning interception try. Nevertheless, five points are the most that any team can pick up however they play and Kidder can take credit for achieving the maximum despite only really playing for forty minutes rather than the full eighty.