Match report courtesy of Martin Easton.....

In a very tight and bruising match KC’s completed a Dunlop double,notching up 101 points over the two games,and remain one point behind leaders Banbury although Earlsdon are a real threat in third,two points adrift of Kidder but with two games in hand.

With the wind at their backs,KC’s made a blistering start and were twelve points to the good after only eight minutes.They opened the scoring when flyhalf George Morgan found touch deep in Dunlop’s 22 and flanker Ben Binnian stole their throw to initiate some fluent phases which stretched the hosts’ defence before openside Rob Phillips strode unopposed through an inviting gap to touch down under the posts.Morgan added the extras and from the restart put in another telling kick to touch.A second steal by Binnian,whose lineout work was excellent throughout,saw KC’s on the attack again and from a ruck Morgan broke tackles down the narrow side to cross for an unconverted try.
Dunlop had not been in the game but four minutes later they set up a series of rucks from a lineout on Kidder’s 22 and their No 4 went over for a try which KC’s clearly felt they could have defended better.The wind advantage then became something of a double edged sword as the restart and another kick upfield both went dead to give Dunlop scrums in good attacking positions and a couple of clearance kicks went direct into touch to concede cheap lineouts but Binnian managed to limit the damage by continuing to pinch the throws.KC’s had,however, gone off the boil and Dunlop utilised their strong running No 10 and centres,who were all bigger than most of Kidder’s forwards,by employing crash ball tactics to set up rucks for their heavy but none too mobile pack.They exerted considerable pressure on KC’s line but well organised defence kept them at bay although the visitors did have a let off when Dunlop created a clear overlap which they wasted with a wild pass into touch. Kidder weathered the storm and just before the break they punished Dunlop,using possession from a lineout on their ten metre line to move the ball left to winger Laurence Hughes whose pace outflanked the first up defence before he passed inside to fullback Jordan Hatch for a fine try which scrumhalf Chris Pinner improved to give KC’s a useful 19-5 interval lead.
Five minutes into the second period Dunlop moved the ball left from a scrum on Kidder’s 22 but their centre was stopped in his tracks by a crunching Jake Evetts tackle and right wing Nick Martin picked up the loose ball to race away and score under the posts for the bonus point try,simply converted by Pinner.Apart from this breakaway,nearly all the play in the first thirty minutes of the second half was in or around KC’s 22 and although indiscipline let them down at times to create unnecessary added pressure they defended stoutly until they were eventually breached when Dunlop’s No 12 found a rare chink of space to reduce the arrears to 26-10.
After this reverse Skipper Rob Delahay,Layton Wilkinson and Phillips made inroads down centrefield to at last take play into Dunlop territory but one long wind assisted clearance soon saw them back in their own 22.Untidy ball at a lineout just inside their own half then resulted in a penalty for Dunlop whose No 9 took a quick tap which caught KC’s off guard and from a ruck close to their line the home side’s prop drove over to make the score 26-15.
KC’s were now wobbling but their rush defence paid dividends for the second time when centre Mitchell Hardwick was in the face of his opposite number and hacked the dropped ball upfield towards the left corner flag and Martin was first to it to score his second try which gave Kidder some breathing space at 31-15.Dunlop were rocked by this set back and shortly afterwards conceded again.From a penalty in their 22 some quick thinking by Pinner created a chance for one of the Baldwin twins and the lock’s try made the game safe.Hooker Joe Kingstone was yellow carded in the closing stages and the fourteen men could not prevent the home side from earning themselves a four try bonus point from a well worked close range penalty which saw their No 10 crash over for a converted try at the final whistle.Kidder were,however,good value for their five points.
KC’s are next in league action at home to Earlsdon on 22nd March in a much anticipated encounter which will go a long way to deciding the ultimate outcome of a very competitive Mids 2 West (S) seaso