KC’s 33 Wolverhampton 8

The bitterly cold howling northerly wind was a significant factor in this match which saw Kidderminster Carolians convincingly outplay fourth placed Wolverhampton to complete the double over their Staffordshire rivals.
With the elements in their favour KC’s made a blistering start and rocked the visitors with two early tries.After only three minutes they moved the ball right from a scrum on Wolves ten metre line and fullback James Whitehouse,making a rare first team appearance,came into the line to create space for exciting young winger Josh Winfield and the eighteen year old left his opposite number for dead before turning on the after burners to outflank the cover defence and scorch over in the corner.From the re-start Kidder put together some terrific phases with forwards and backs combining to keep the ball alive and the thrilling passage of play culminated in an exchange of passes between the Baldwin twins which put in second row Alex for a second try with only six minutes on the clock.Both touch judges raised their flags to signify that the tricky conversion was successful but the referee had his doubts and overruled them,so KC’s had to content themselves with a 10-0 lead.
Kidder kept their foot on the gas and after a number of near misses they ran in their third try on the quarter of an hour mark with a move which began in their own half and after well timed passes by George Morgan,Jack Tunstall and Chris Pinner was finished off by Winfield for his second try.
Midway through the half Wolves opened their account with a twenty metre penalty by flyhalf Junior Sampson but Pinner replied almost immediately with a wind assisted kick from the ten metre line to make the score 18-3.KC’s were now running Wolverhampton ragged and from a scrum on halfway they set up a ruck near the right touchline before switching left and although winger Laurence Hughes was well tackled just short of the line he managed to stretch over for a bonus point fourth try.Kidder were then guilty of rather overplaying with everyone fancying their chance to get on the scoresheet and this enabled the visitors to stem the tide until moments before the break when Morgan found a good touch on their 22.Wolverhampton won the throw but the clearance kick was run back at them and although Morgan was held up over the line a solid five metre scrum gave No 9 Pinner ample room to feed Winfield down the short side for a simple hat-trick try and a 28-3 interval lead.
There was,however,a feeling among the home support that this might not be enough and that they could perhaps have taken fuller advantage of the strong wind by kicking to the corners more often and these concerns appeared justified when a couple of long kicks by the visitors at the start of the second period gave them good field position.Kidder struggled to clear their lines and after a weak kick was gobbled up by Wolves their outside centre Azza Norman crossed at the right corner with only two minute played to reduce the arrears to 28-8.
The hosts were finding it difficult to get out of their own half but,adopting a more forwards based approach,they gradually came to terms with the conditions and with the Baldwins rampaging through the Wolverhampton ranks to create havoc and No 8 Layton Wilkinson making a series of trademark carries they began to impose themselves again.A throw to the front at a lineout in Wolves 22 almost produced a try but the ball was lost inches short and from another lineout,this time on their own ten metre line,replacement Freddie Morgan sparked a fine passage of play which had Wolverhampton in full retreat.Kidder were further encouraged when experienced prop Ben Turner took the field after a long injury layoff and with twenty minutes remaining fellow prop Nathan Small showed a surprising turn of speed to burst to the line from ten metres out for a try which knocked the stuffing out of the visitors.They did enjoy the majority of possession in the last quarter of an hour but could make little headway against KC’s stout defence and the home side kept them at arms length to see out the game fairly comfortably.
Kidder did really well to draw the second half 5-5 when playing into the teeth of the icy wind and now, lying only two points behind Wolverhampton and four behind Shrewsbury, they can still harbour hopes of a fourth spot finish.The club’s main sponsors,Hillandale Caravans,nominated No 6 Chris Baldwin as their man of the match and although the accolade was fully deserved the whole team warrant a pat on the back and they will be looking for a third league win on the trot when they entertain Ludlow on 7th February.