KCRFC 1st XV v Ludlow (A) – Saturday 25th October

Ludlow 19 KC’s 71

A blistering opening twenty minutes laid the foundations for KC’s second successive win on the road and the ten try hammering of a gutsy but struggling Ludlow side consolidated their fourth place spot in Mids 2 West (N).
Straight from the kick off Kidder used their forwards to make the hard yards and slick recycling of the ball earned them a penalty which they kicked to touch for a five metre lineout from which No 8 Layton Wilkinson went over for the first try.Five minutes later Wilkinson drove off the back of a scrum ten metres from Ludlow’s line to tie in their defence and player coach Andy McLellan scampered through an inviting gap to touch down.
With ten minutes played Ludlow threatened for the first time when their No 12 made a half break which won them an eminently kickable penalty but the chance was badly missed and they were soon made to pay.From the resultant 22 drop out McLellan and centre Rhys Pritchard ran the ball at the hosts before scrumhalf Chris Pinner put in a long kick which was supported by a good chase and a follow up tackle by wing Leigh Molyneux which pressurised Ludlow into coughing up the ball and second row Jess Smith,who had another storming game,strode over for the third try.
A brief spell of Ludlow possession was comfortably repelled and when lock Alex Baldwin stole their lineout Pinner kicked to the right corner.Some hesitant defence enabled the lively Pritchard to cross for KC’s fourth try,all of which were excellently converted by Pinner,to establish a commanding 28-0 lead with a bonus point already in the bag.
Kidder then rather took their foot off the gas and from a scrum on their 22 Ludlow’s centre scythed through rather too easily before offloading to his fullback who touched down by the side of the posts for a try which the No 15 converted to give the home side a glimmer of hope.However,their No 8 was then shown yellow and after the penalty was kicked to touch KC’s went through the phases,moving the ball wide right from the throw before switching back inside to put in Pritchard for his second try.Pinner again added the extras but on the stroke of halftime a KC’s attack was turned over and Ludlow’s captain broke away from deep in his own half.The No 10 was chased down short of the line by centre Laurence Hughes but the support runner was tackled without the ball by fullback Jordan Hatch,who was yellow carded, and the ref rightly awarded a penalty try which was duly converted to reduce the arrears to 35-14.
The late score and the carding of Hatch seemed to affect Kidder and after they knocked on the restart they were very much on the back foot.They lost a scrum on their own ball in a dangerous position and were fortunate when Ludlow missed another good penalty opportunity but the home side’s spirit was rewarded seven minutes into the second period when their skipper danced his way through some unconvincing tackles for an individual try which made the score 35-19 and with the hosts restored to full strength and KC’s temporarily down to thirteen men pending the return of Hatch and an injured player,Ludlow’s supporters began to fancy their chances.
Kidder needed to get back on track and after a shaky fifteen minutes they regained their composure and structure.Turnover ball gave Pinner a shot at goal and the No 9,in the form of his life,confidently knocked over the penalty to steady the ship.They suffered a set-back when Alex Baldwin,on as a replacement,was yellow carded at a ruck on Ludlow’s line and although the penalty count was suddenly mounting against them KC’s reasserted their superiority when Pritchard found a fine touch and a lineout steal saw the backs create space for Hatch to outflank the Ludlow cover and go over in the left corner.Then from a scrum midway in KC’s half No 7 Mitch Hardwick,now playing as a centre following a number of reshuffles,beat man after man before running away from the support and becoming isolated but Kidder were again completely on top and mirrored their start to the match with four tries in the last twenty minutes,all converted by Pinner to make it ten successful kicks out of eleven.Firstly,left wing Alex Thompson finished off a lovely blindside move for a try in the corner and after he almost went over again KC’s won a scrum against the head which put in Hardwick for his second try.Secure lineout ball was then moved quickly along the backs to outside centre Hughes who galloped in from forty metres and Thompson rounded things off with his second touchdown which meant that from 35-19 Kidder had racked up 36 unanswered points.
Despite the scoreline,there were times in the match when the coaching staff were not entirely happy with KC’s defence and they will need to be at their best for the whole eighty minutes when they entertain third placed Moseley Oak on 1st November – KO 2.15 pm.