1st XV vs Berkswell & Balsall Heath 19 February 2022 - KC 22 Berkswell 22

The KC team were escorted onto the pitch by their Mini-rugby under 11s team.
KC repeated their regular slow start going 0-5 down inside four minutes as they gave away a penalty. Berkswell kicked to within 5 metres of the KC line, then won the line-out and with a powerful maul pushed over the line to score.
KC started playing well, making several powerful runs into the Berkswell 22. . Berkswell went down to 14 when a high tackle resulted in one of their players being yellow carded. From the resulting penalty KC kicked close to the line, winning the line out and driving a maul over to score through Dave Kane.
A fracas developed involving at least 6 players from each side resulting in a player from each side being red carded, the referee certainly sent the wrong KC player off.
KC had a great move in the Berkswell 22 with support from the forwards and then another powerful surge from Dave Kane fed Will Fallows for him to score wide out.
KC continued their dominance into the second half and a good forward move in the Berkswell 22 was taken on by the two veterans as Chris Pinner picked up and fed Andy McLellan to score. The conversion was completed by Jack O’Hagan who had a great overall game with varied distribution and good defensive tackling.
KC defence had been watertight until half way through the second half when a missed tackle near the KC 22 was capitalised on by a Berkswell player cutting through to score near the posts. The conversion attempt was just wide and the touch judges erroneously signalled for a successful kick. The referee overruled their signal and then to the consternation of the home crowd allowed Berkswell to retake the kick which they completed successfully. The referee was correct in his decision because a KC forward had encroached over the line before the first kick was taken.
The stand out forward was Ryan Wainwright who made several powerful runs and was prominent in defence, Rich Sollum came on as a replacement and tackled well.
Berkswell had their heads up and on being awarded a penalty kicked for a lineout close to the KC line. This they won and drove over to score a try which was well converted to give them a 17-19 lead. Not long after Berkswell were awarded a penalty which they kicked to rub further salt into the KC wound.
KC having seen a twelve point lead dissolve into a five point deficit needed to pick themselves up. The man for the occasion was George Tildesley who made a diagonal 30 metre run from the halfway line towards the left hand touch line. Chris Pinner supported and fed the ball through the three quarters for the try of the match finished by Hakeem Hussain near the right hand touch line. The difficult conversion was missed in the blustery wind.
The game ended in a draw, however KC must feel they missed out because they were leading for two thirds of the game and scored four tries to the three by Berkswell. Overall it was a great team effort and augurs well for the future.
Bob Davies 200222