Match report courtesy of Martin Easton....

Before this local Derby kicked off a minute’s silence was observed in memory of former KC’s player David Waldron who sadly passed away on 14th February,aged only 21 years.
Droitwich enjoyed territorial advantage in the opening exchanges and a careless knock on by Kidder on their own tryline when under no pressure whatsoever gifted the visitors an early five metre scrum.KC’s backs were then caught offside and D’s fullback Tom Wormington made no mistake from twenty five metres with nine minutes on the clock.
Encouraged by a large President’s Day crowd,Kidder tried to take the game back to Droitwich and a high tackle on left wing Laurence Hughes gave them the chance to kick to the 22.At the lineout they set up a driving maul which was brought down for another penalty which they ran but a mistake resulted in a Droitwich scrum from which they were able to clear their lines.There then followed a scrappy period of play which saw both sides making a host of unforced errors.The visitors did have a chance to double their lead but a penalty attempt fell just short and after twenty five minutes head coach Ian Bletcher brought on the experienced No 8 Layton Wilkinson and assistant coach Andy McLellan to try and bring some structure to the home side’s play.The ploy paid off after only four minutes when from a scrum twenty five metres out flyhalf George Morgan floated a long pass to McLellan coming into the line from fullback and his burst earned KC’s a penalty which they kicked to touch eight metres from D’s line.They moved the ball from the throw and although the last pass did not go to hand play was brought back for another penalty which Morgan kicked to the five metre line and this time the forwards drove over with Wilkinson getting the touchdown for a 5-3 lead.
Kidder were now in the driving seat,limiting Droitwich to a long range penalty effort which again was short,but their passing in the backs was far too ambitious and led to innumerable knock ons which cost them dearly as they spurned three clear try scoring opportunities which may well have been converted had they kept things simpler.To make matters worse,three minutes before the break scrumhalf Chris Pinner was yellow carded for not rolling away at a ruck although he appeared to be trapped and stamped on as well.A crunching tackle by hooker Joe Kingstone on a Droitwich forward twice his size was met with a roar of approval from the crowd but all in all it had not been a very satisfactory first half for the home side.
Five minutes into the second period Droitwich took advantage of Pinner’s absence when McLellan,filling in at No 9,had a kick charged down by the visitors’ hooker Rob Poke and with KC’s having no last line of defence he was able to gratefully drop on the ball for a try which put the Wychavon side ahead 8-5.Three minutes later from a lineout on KC’s ten metre line D’s centre Mark Strutt broke through some weak tackling to cross for a try which Wormington improved to extend the lead to 15-5 with only ten minutes played.
A late tackle on Morgan after the flyhalf had kicked long downfield gave KC’s a foothold back in the game.The penalty was put into touch and another infringement by Droitwich was given the same treatment.From the second throw McLellan cross kicked to right wing Nick Martin who was held up but at the expense of a lineout at which Kidder once more drove for the line and after momentarily being stopped a second surge saw prop Nathan Small,Hillandale Caravans man of the match,plunge over to reduce the arrears to 15-10.
KC’s forwards were rising to the challenge and the pressure told as D’s No 6 was shown yellow.KC’s opted for an attacking scrum but somehow contrived to lose the put in and another chance was gone.Nonetheless,Kidder continued to maintain their stranglehold and six minutes later the visitors were reduced to thirteen men when their No 4 was also given a yellow,although at the same incident Droitwich were somehow awarded a penalty which allowed them to relieve the pressure,albeit briefly.After KC’s threes messed up another chance to score,Morgan kicked a penalty to the five metre line and from the inevitable drive skipper Rob Delahay got the touchdown to level the scores with ten minutes left to play.
In a ding-dong finish a fine breakout by Pinner,a livewire all afternoon,was taken on by Wilkinson to threaten Droitwich who for their part went close with a long range drop goal attempt.A Pinner clearance kick was then badly knocked on by Droitwich and from the scrum in the visitors’ half KC’s launched a wave of concerted attacks in search of the winning score but Droitwich held firm and it took some excellent covering by Pinner to deny D’s winger at the death when he chased a long kick into Kidder’s 22.
In recent seasons matches between these two clubs have always been tight affairs irrespective of league positions and nobody could begrudge a dogged Droitwich side their two points.Despite prop Matt Rigsby having to withdraw from the squad shortly before kick off,Kidder’s forwards were more than a match for their counterparts and were responsible for all three tries but the backs had a bad day at the office.KC’s have slipped to second place behind Banbury who won at Nuneaton Old Ed’s and the chasing pack all have games in hand.Moreover,KC’s face a difficult run in with three of their four remaining fixtures away from home,beginning at Dunlop on Saturday,and they will need to rediscover their January form if they are to keep their promotion hopes alive.