Match report courtesy of Martin Easton....

KC’s were never behind in this match but neither were they ever really comfortable against a Coventrians side whose gritty performance belied their modest league record. Nonetheless, despite being at far from their best Kidder notched up another bonus point win and with the match between Nuneaton OE and Leamington being postponed they took advantage to move up to third spot and in the process they did the double over their doughty opponents.

Playing up the slope and against the breeze the visitors could not have asked for a better start, running in a try in the very first minute. Their kick off was dropped by Covs and KC’s set up a rolling maul before releasing the ball to flyhalf George Morgan down the short side and faced with a one on one he broke the tackle to force his way over the line. Minutes later a sliced clearance kick put Kidder under pressure and the home side won a penalty, coolly slotted by their fullback to reduce the arrears to 5-3.Straight from the restart a silky break by Morgan created a try scoring opportunity but an overlap on the left was ignored and the chance was gone. However, with still only ten minutes played the elusive Morgan again breached Covs first up defence before feeding No 13 Andy McLellan whose line of running was too much for the hosts and he put in fellow centre Jake Evetts for a well worked try which Morgan improved for a 12-3 lead.

Five minutes later Covs flyhalf fielded another clearance kick and set off on a penetrating run which culminated in a second penalty opportunity ,converted by their No 15 via a post. KC’s were now struggling to contain the home side’s forwards,were having problems in the lineout and were also slipping off tackles. As a result, by the half hour mark they found themselves pegged back to 12-12 after Covs’ fullback knocked over two more penalties. KC’s responded with a Morgan penalty kick which found touch five metres out and they were at last able to set up a catch and drive which resulted in a Kidder scrum.Their first shove was briefly stopped but a second surge saw skipper Rob Delahay over the whitewash and Morgan’s conversion put KC’s ahead again,19-12.An excellent phase of play sparked off by fullback Jordan Hatch and continued by left wing Laurence Hughes and McLellan earned KC’s a penalty in a promising position shortly before the interval but an injury to a Covs player led to a long delay and the first half rather fizzled out.

Kidder needed to move the ball away from the home side’s pack but began the second period sloppily and after only three minutes a weak kick out of defence was run back at them for a Covs try which cut the deficit to just 19-17. In keeping with the topsy turvy nature of a game in which neither team was able to exercise a period of control for any length of time, KC’s struck back when prop Matt Rigsby’s twenty metre burst from a lineout took play up to Covs 22 and from a scrum Morgan spotted an inviting gap to dart through for a fine individual bonus point try. With the advantage of the slope, Kidder were at last beginning to get on top and after a terrific diagonal run by Hughes was stopped just short of the try line the ball was recycled and McLellan went over for a converted try which extended the lead to a more comfortable 31-17.

Refusing to lie down, the resilient home side came back at KC’s from a scrum on halfway and good hands put their No 7 in for a clear run to the line. Their fullback added the extras and at 31-24 they now only required a converted try to draw level but another incisive run by Hughes put Hatch into space and the young fullback stepped neatly inside the last defender for a vital sixth try which left the hosts now needing two converted tries to win with nearly quarter of an hour to play. Covs rose to the challenge and two close range lineouts tested KC’s resolve. They were reduced to fourteen men when scrumhalf Chris Pinner was yellow carded in the closing stages and rode their luck when Covs No 15,so reliable previously, missed a penalty from right in front of the posts. The home side did register a third try at the death, going blindside from a ruck, and at 36-29 they still had hopes of snatching a draw but the ref blew the whistle at least a minute early on most peoples watches and they had to settle for a hard earned but deserved losing bonus point .

Next fixture – Old Leamingtonians (H) – Saturday 18th January.