Match Report Courtesy of Martin Easton...

This was a clash between two in form sides,both coming into the game on the back of five wins out of six,but as a result of the fixture being re-scheduled for Easter Saturday at short notice both teams were much changed and it was KC’s greater strength in depth that proved decisive as they came away from Moorefields with an emphatic five try bonus point win and a clean sheet to boot.
After ten minutes Dave Waldron,deputising on the left wing,made good ground before passing inside to skipper Rob Delahay who took play on into the hosts’ 22 but a Leamington scrum enabled them to kick to touch and clear their lines.KC’s regained possession from the throw and won a penalty twenty metres out which flyhalf Chris Pinner successfully converted although with the touch judges unsure it needed the referee to confirm the three points.
Both sides were looking to run the ball,which made for an open entertaining game,but it was almost half an hour before the tryline was threatened.Incursions by fullback Andy McLellan and Delahay made inroads deep into Leamington territory but from the resulting ruck they again cleared to touch.At the 22 lineout KC’s set up a terrific driving maul and appeared to have crossed the whitewash but were adjudged to have been held up.From the five metre scrum they went open and were awarded a penalty in front of the posts.Surprisingly,they turned down the chance to double their lead but the decision was justified spectacularly when No 6 Rob Phillips received the ball on halfway and ran wide around the first line of defence before straightening up along the right touchline and continued his magnificent run to elude the covering tackles and with Jack Tunstall up in support Phillips’ inside pass put the lock over for a top drawer try,improved by Pinner for a 10-0 advantage.
Kidder were now playing really well and incisive bursts by centre Jake Evetts and then Pinner almost breached the home side again,only for them to both slip on the greasy surface at the vital moment.No matter,field position had been established and from a close range ruck scrumhalf Alex Thompson fed McLellan whose great running line was too much for Leamington and he crossed for another fine try.Only two minutes later Delahay made a break in midfield and with the rampaging Phillips on his shoulder he offloaded to the flanker who galloped away to touch down for his second try.Pinner added the extras and with a scoring burst of nineteen points in only six minutes KC’s had completely blown the opposition away and the match was effectively won by halftime at 22-0.
After knocking on Leamington’s kick off,KC’s were under the cosh in the opening minutes of the second period but another surging run by Phillips off the back of a defensive scrum relieved the pressure.Kidder then made the most of possession just inside Leamington’s half when Pinner,who enjoyed a fine afternoon both in attack and defence,found space down the blind side and right wing Rich Sollum cut inside to take his pass for the bonus point try.
KC’s then upset the ref by not releasing the tackler at successive breakdowns and he warned that the next offender would be yellow carded.Unfortunately,the fall guy was substitute Nathan Small who had only been on the pitch for two minutes and worse was to follow when prop Ben Turner was also given ten minutes as Kidder tried to stop a Leamington truck and trail from a lineout just outside their 22.Reduced to thirteen men,KC’s were determined not to concede and somehow held out in the face of a series of five metre lineouts and scrums.It was great defence and,restored to fourteen,they killed off the home side when a long kick by McLellan took play back up to the Leamington 22.The fullback fielded a clearance kick himself and ran the ball back at the hosts before feeding Phillips who could have scored himself but in a “jug avoidance” moment opted instead to put Tunstall over for his second try.Pinner converted and now back to full strength KC’s looked certain to run in a sixth try as centre Laurence Hughes put replacement wing Sam Taylor in the clear but with the line at his mercy the youngster was disappointed when the pass was somewhat dubiously ruled forward and there was no further scoring.
Make no mistake,this was an impressive all round performance by KC’s who consolidated their third place in Mids 2 West (South),six points ahead of Droitwich with each club having two games to play.Both of Kidder’s matches are at home and they are in a strong position but with a North Mids Shield semi final against Bridgnorth also yet to come they can be sure that head coach Ian Bletcher will not allow any complacency to creep in.