Match Report Courtesy of Brian Pinner....

KCs travelled to league leaders Earlsdon on Saturday, and played a full part in an entertaining game that saw 11 tries scored. KCs started the game on the attack, and after driving Earsldon off the ball at the first scrum they won a turnover 30 yards out and slick passing on the short side put wing forward Rich Sollom over for the opening try after 2 minutes, with the conversion added by George Morgan. KCs kept the home side pinned in their own half, and with 15 minutes on the clock a rare strike against the head by Tom Maher to steal the ball at a 5 metre scrum created excellent attacking possession. More good handling in the backs put Mitch Hardwick into space and he barged over the try line under the posts for another converted try to give KCs a 14 – 0 lead.

Earlsdon had not really been in the game to this point, but they showed how dangerous they could be with ball in hand when they counter-attacked from a missed kick to touch. Quick ruck ball gave their backs some momentum, and they worked the ball to their left winger 40 yards out, who showed power and pace to go through a couple of tackles and score wide out. KCs then had a further spell of pressure which caused mistakes in the Earlsdon defence, one of which allowed Sollom to pounce on a loose ball for his second try. Morgan again added the conversion.

Earsldon started to gain more territory and possession in the final 10 minutes of the first half, and after having a potential score disallowed for a foot in touch they stole the resulting line-out and their centre crashed through the defence close to the posts for a converted try. KCs created another couple of half chances before the break, but could not turn them into points. Nonetheless they were good value for their 21 – 12 half time lead.

Earlsdon came racing out of the blocks at the start of the second half, and KCs fumbled the kick off to put themselves under pressure. Full back Jordan Hatch had to leave the field with an injury after a few minutes of the half, with Henry Cook, another Colt, replacing him to make his 1st XV debut.

Missed tackles in the centre of the field gave the dangerous Earsldon backs some space to work in, and they created a try in the corner to narrow the deficit. Straight from the kick off the home side drove through the KCs defence to attack the try line again, and a kick ahead was touched down by their right winger to give Earsldon the lead for the first time in the match.

The next kick off resulted in another Earlsdon attack from deep, with powerful running and pace out wide seeing a further try in the corner. KCs had conceded three tries in the space of 7 minutes, and had hardly touched the ball in this time, apart from taking the kick-offs. Further damage was done after 20 minutes of the second half when the left winger again burst through tackles in the middle of the field for a converted try to give Earlsdon a 34 – 21 lead.

A shell-shocked KCs managed to regain some composure at this stage and got themselves back into the game with some good driving play from Rob Delahay and Jack Tunstall, with offloads to support runners gaining territory. A scuffle in the centre of the pitch resulted in the referee showing yellow cards to three prop forwards, two from KCs and one from Earsldon, so the next 10 minutes saw uncontested scrums. A penalty for a late tackle gave Earsldon a further three points, but KCs refused to lie down. Their six man pack created a period of pressure, with Earsldon giving away a number of penalties close to their own line. From one of these Chris Pinner darted through the retreating defence to cross near the posts for the bonus point try, and with Morgan adding the conversion KCs were now only 9 points behind.

A further yellow card, this time for the Earsldon No.8, gave KCs a numerical advantage going into injury time, and they made it pay with fast ball from the breakdown to create an overlap for Cook to score his debut try wide on the left. With the conversion missed KCs needed a further try in the final two minutes of the match to snatch victory, but they conceded a penalty from the kick off which allowed Earsldon to score the final points of the contest. The 7 point defeat meant KCs also earned a losing bonus point, which they thoroughly deserved from their attacking play.

KCs host Stourbridge Lions at Marlpool Lane this Saturday, kick off at 2:15pm.