Despite having dumped the same opposition out of the North Mids Shield in their semi final clash at Marlpool Lane just seven days earlier and also running in tries for fun in a number of other fixtures this was arguably Kidderminster’s best result of the season so far as they inflicted a first home defeat on third placed Moseley Oak.Missing the Baldwin twins, powerhouse Layton Wilkinson and the mercurial Josh Winfield and playing on a pitch more suited to cross country than the running rugby to which they aspire Kidder had to dig deep,very deep at times,but showed tremendous character and sheer guts to eventually prevail at the end of a gruelling encounter in which five players were given yellow cards.
They made an awful start,conceding inside the first two minutes following a lineout on their 22 from which the Oak forwards rumbled infield before moving the ball right.A loose pass should have been gathered by KC’s but their failure to do so enabled Moseley to go over at the corner for a 5-0 lead.
A penalty kick to touch by flyhalf Rhys Pritchard gave Kidder field position for the first time and although they knocked on at the lineout two good scrums against Moseley’s much heavier pack gave them encouragement until they were driven back out of the 22 and a penalty kicked to halfway completed the clearance job for the home side.With a quarter of an hour on the clock KC’s backs at last got their hands on the ball and put together some promising phases to take play back into Moseley’s half and following a lineout drive they won an eminently kickable penalty but scrumhalf Chris Pinner’s effort came back off a post.Kidder were forced to reshuffle when fullback James Whitehouse went off injured but with the home side reduced to fourteen men after their No 5 was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle they began to get into their stride and only handling errors,understandable in the difficult conditions,denied them on more than one occasion.
The hosts responded with a series of forwards drives but could make little headway against Kidder’s determined defence and ten minutes before halftime they were caught out when KC’s suddenly launched a lightening counter attack from deep. Great hands by the backs gave Kidder numbers on the right hand side and a final exchange of passes between centres George Morgan and Rich Sollom sent Sollom round under the posts for a terrific try which Pinner converted and in the face of concerted Moseley pressure they then held out until the break to preserve their narrow 7-5 advantage.
Early in the second half Pinner kicked deep into Moseley territory to put KC’s on the front foot and in the third minute winger Laurence Hughes collected a clearance kick just inside touch and passed inside to Jordan Hatch who,restored to fullback with Whitehouse off the pitch, danced through some despairing tackles before the ball was quickly recycled left to Morgan and his inviting pass to Sollom meant the No 12 only had to drop over the line for his second try.From the re-start a great forwards drive marched Moseley back fully twenty five metres but when the ball was released to the backs a knock on,compounded by an offside offence,returned possession to the home side and when they won a penalty near the left touchline on halfway they swiftly ran the ball right to their dangerous No 14 who skated away for a try which reduced the arrears to 12-10 with half an hour still to play.Eight minutes later Pinner made a break from a scrum on Moseley’s ten metre line and ruck ball was put through the hands to Pritchard who crossed for another well worked try,improved by Pinner to extend the lead to a more comfortable 19-10.
The match was now increasingly becoming an attritional battle in the mud and KC’s were having to do a lot of defending but their scrum was holding up remarkably well and Pinner and the back row were harrying Moseley at every opportunity.Midway through the half replacement forward Simon Clarke,who had put in some important tackles,was shown yellow and at the next play flanker Mike Protheroe and the hosts No 8 were also both given ten minutes in the bin.The fourteen men of Moseley were throwing the kitchen sink at thirteen man Kidder but they continued to put bodies on the line and in a rare breakaway even managed to spurn a three on one overlap.Moseley’s pressure eventually paid off when they won a penalty under the posts and their No 10 took the three points to close the deficit to 19-13 but with time running out Pinner and Morgan initiated a break down the left and Moseley were forced to scrum down in their own 22.Although they won the ball good KC’s pressing and counter rucking earned them a crucial penalty which Pinner converted to leave the home side requiring two scores with four minutes overtime already played and although Kidder had to endure an inexplicable further seven minutes of time added on and finished with thirteen men as Pinner became the fifth recipient of a yellow card and Morgan lay injured they bravely held out.
This fantastic win moves KC’s to within one point of Moseley but only four points clear of Stourbridge Lions and Shrewsbury,both of whom they have yet to play away from home,and there is therefore a lot still at stake as the season approaches its final stages.First,however,there is another daunting challenge when Kidder take on second in the table Old Salteians at Marlpool Lane next Saturday – KO 2.15 pm.