KCs put in one of their best performances of the season against local rivals Stourbridge Lions, in front of the biggest crowd of the season, to come out on top in this tight battle. The final result was in doubt until the last play of the match, but KCs fully deserved their victory.

The first half ended scoreless, as neither side could gain any momentum because of the persistent sound of the referee’s whistle. KCs did create an early opportunity when they developed an overlap on the right, but as a try looked imminent a Stourbridge defender deliberately knocked the ball on when trying to intercept a pass, and the resulting penalty came to nothing.

The scrums were continually being reset during this period, and the referee eventually lost patience and yellow carded a prop from each side in an effort to resolve the problems. Both defences held firm, despite some strong attacks, and Stourbridge spurned an opportunity to take the lead when a penalty attempt was narrowly missed. They had a further chance at the end of the half when their right winger pounced on a loose pass near his own line and only a last ditch tackle from Laurence Hughes prevented a try for the visitors.

KCs had a strong wind at their backs in the second half, and used it to their advantage to keep Stourbridge pinned in their own territory. They used their forwards to gain solid possession at the scrums and line-outs, and the boots of George Morgan and Andy McClellan drilled the ball towards the Stourbridge line. Support players followed up these kicks strongly and tackled well to deprive the Stourbridge backs of space, but they still looked dangerous when they counter-attacked with the ball in hand.

Mitch Hardwick gained good ground with a number of strong bursts in the centre of the field, and an excellent attack involving most of the forwards was halted just a few metres from the line.

The deadlock was eventually broken when George Morgan side-stepped his way over the line for the opening try, following a series of attacks from close range, and he added the conversion to put KCs 7 – 0 up. Stourbridge were spurred on by this score, and enjoyed their best spell of the game as they put KCs’ defence under enormous pressure. They gained their reward with a try near the posts when their forwards eventually drove over from a tapped penalty, and the conversion levelled the scores with 15 minutes remaining.

KCs managed to raise their game again, and came back strongly in an effort to find the winning score, but could not find a way through the resolute Stourbridge defence. Layton Wilkinson was driven over the line, but the referee was unable to see the ball being grounded. There were then a number of scrums and line-outs within 10 metres of the Stourbridge line, but all attempts to cross the line were thwarted. However, as the match entered stoppage time some excellent driving play by the KCs’ forwards gained fast ball at the breakdown, and some fine offloading put substitute Rob Phillips into space on the right hand touchline and he touched down for the vital try.

There was still time for one final play after the conversion attempt, but from the kick-off KCs won a penalty that allowed them to put the ball out of play ahead of the final whistle. This was an enthralling game between two evenly matched sides, who both gave their all for the full 80 minutes. The result moves KCs level on points with Stourbridge in the league table, and will give them added confidence when the league programme kicks off again in the New Year.

Each of the other three KCs teams also won their matches, to give the club a clean sweep on the day!!