Match report courtesy of Brian Pinner

Tamworth RFC – 24pts Kidderminster Carolians RFC – 26pts
KCs hung on at the end of this game to claim a bonus point victory in their first league match of the season, but the result was in doubt until the final kick of the match against a rejuvenated Tamworth side now coached by Leicester Tigers Jordan Crane.
Mark Desogus, a Colts prop, came into the side to make his debut, and contributed to KCs’ dominance at the set pieces for the first hour.
The first half was littered with errors from both sides, which was surprising considering the conditions were perfect for handling rugby. KCs’ passes were either dropped, went forward or didn’t reach their intended target, and Tamworth kicked away a lot of their possession. When KCs did manage to hang on to the ball and create an overlap they were stopped by solid Tamworth defence, and couldn’t get the final pass away.
KCs were dominant at the line-out, with Rob Phillips stealing a number of Tamworth throws, but they were turned over at regular intervals at the breakdown, with Tamworth arriving first, in numbers, to steal possession.
Ewan Thompson suffered a hamstring injury after 20 minutes, with Chris Pinner coming on to replace him in the centre.
Much of the first half was played in the centre of the pitch, with neither side maintaining possession for more than a couple of phases, and we had to wait until the 34th minute for the first score. A KCs’ drop out was carried back by Tamworth, and a missed tackle created space for their centre to run in close to the posts for a converted try to break the deadlock.
This score seemed to spur KCs on, and they soon replied with a try of their own when Phillips drove over from a 5 metre scrum, with Sam Taylor adding the conversion. There were three further opportunities for KCs to add to their tally in first half injury time, but they failed to cross the line on each occasion, leaving the score at 7 points each.
The second half started in a more positive fashion for KCs, and good handling in the backs created an overlap for Jordan Hatch to make ground. When he was stopped the support players retained possession and the Tamworth defence were outnumbered as Elliot Kelsall strolled over under the posts, with Taylor again adding the conversion.
A couple of minutes later Phillips stole another Tamworth line-out and a good kick and chase put their defence under pressure. The ball found its way out to winger Will Varley who crossed for a third try. Straight from the kick off KCs ran the ball wide and Laurence Hughes on the other wing outpaced the cover defence for a fine 60 metre run for the bonus point fourth try, converted by Taylor, to stretch the lead to 26 points to 7.
Tamworth were struggling at this stage, but KCs contrived to let them back into the game with another poor catch from the kick off, resulting in a penalty that was kicked to the corner. KCs infringed at the resulting line-out and Phillips was shown a yellow card for the offence. Tamworth took advantage of their forward pack’s power and scored an unconverted try following a number of drives close to the line.
KCs had to spend the rest of the game in their own half, with solid defence managing to keep Tamworth out, but after 25 minutes the home side found a gap to score a converted try which brought them to within 7 points of KCs. A further yellow card for KCs with 10 minutes remaining added to the pressure, but last ditch tackles on the Tamworth left winger from first Hatch, and then Pinner, kept KCs in front. With time running out KCs lost a line-out close to their own line, and the Tamworth forwards again drove over, for their fourth try. Luckily the conversion was missed and the final whistle blew, leaving KCs ahead by 2 points.
KCs will face stronger opposition in the coming weeks, and will need to sharpen up their handling, breakdown play and defence if they are to challenge at the top of the table. They are at home to Veseyans this week (3pm kick off), and will be working hard at training to improve their performance.