KCRFC 1st XV Old Saltleians (A) – Saturday 15th November

Old Saltleians 51 KC’s 5

Missing a host of first team regulars for a variety of reasons,KC’s travelled to third placed Old Salts with a fledgeling set of backs who simply did not have the experience to cope with the confident home side and although their more established pack of forwards did enjoy some success in the set scrums,particularly in the second half,their lineout never worked at all and they were generally second best at the breakdown.Consequently,with the more seasoned players not really stepping up to the plate to help out the youngsters Kidder went down to an almost inevitable heavy defeat.
Early Salts’ territory was rewarded after ten minutes when they disrupted a KC’s scrum thirty metres out and kept the ball in hand at close quarters to cross for the opening try.Ten minutes later the hosts’ No 5,having already been warned,incurred the wrath of the referee for a second time and was yellow carded.Kidder kicked the penalty to Salts’ 22 but lost the lineout and a counter attack by the fourteen man home side was finished off by their fullback whose try was improved by their flyhalf to put them ahead 12-0.A towering Salts kick then fell from the sky in front of KC’s posts and with fullback Josh Winfield seemingly taken out in mid air the loose ball was dropped on by the hosts’ winger for a questionable try which was simply converted to extend the lead to 19-0.
Under sustained pressure,KC’s raw recruits were understandably panicking and some naïve defence,desperate passing,handling errors,ill judged kicking and a lack of game management took their toll and after somehow keeping Salts at bay for nearly fifteen minutes they conceded again when the No 10 knocked over a penalty.As halftime approached KC’s tried to take a quick penalty twenty metres from their line but knocked on and from the scrum Salts kicked through Kidder’s defensive line.The chasing winger looked well in front of the kicker but no offside was given and the second dubious touchdown of the afternoon was converted to give the home side a very comfortable 29-0 interval advantage.
At the break KC’s made a number of changes.Prop Matt Rigsby was replaced by his brother James,scrumhalf Alex Thompson went off with flyhalf Freddie Morgan moving to No 9 and his brother George,returning from injury, took his place at No 10.Winfield moved to the right wing with No 14 Ezra Fa’alogo switching to outside centre and KC’s only experienced back,Lawrence Hughes,filled in at fullback.As a result,Kidder now had three Morgans on the pitch – relatively old hand George,younger brother Freddie and the latest off the production line,debutant winger Harry.
The shakeup looked to be paying dividends when five minutes into the second period KC’s put together their best passage of play,going through a succession of phases before eventually being stripped of the ball in Salts’ 22.Regaining control,the home side pragmatically opted to knock over a penalty opportunity and two minutes later their left wing went over in the corner to stretch the lead to 37-0.Although KC’s re-start did not go ten metres they won the scrum on halfway but, all too typically,knocked on to lose possession.Another good Kidder scrum won them a penalty which they kicked to touch but the lineout was lost and when a third strike against the head set up a potential try scoring overlap an apparent deliberate knock on was not penalised. KC’s had to settle for a scrum from which the ball was moved along the backs before being dropped yet again.KC’s were now certainly having more effect on the game but were still making too many mistakes and lost another good attacking position when a lineout throw did not go five metres.
Their improved second half performance was eventually rewarded when Salts kicked away scrum ball on halfway and a good KC’s handling move culminated in an exchange of passes down the right touchline which put in George Morgan for a well worked try.Buoyed by this score,Kidder continued to take the game to Salts but were turned over just short of the tryline and the hosts’scrumhalf scampered down the left touch before passing inside to his No 11 who broke two last despairing tackles for a spectacular length of the field try,excellently converted from wide out.
With eight minutes still left to play KC’s depleted squad suffered yet more injuries and had to battle on with fourteen men.Unsurprisingly,Salts ran in a seventh try which was again converted by their No 10 whose accurate boot racked up sixteen points and a bedraggled KC’s were left to lick their wounds.