A magnificent second half performance away to a Shrewsbury side who had beaten them 47-24 at Marlpool Lane in November secured a vital win for KC’s who now have a one point advantage over fast finishing Wolverhampton in the battle for third place in Mids 2 West (N).
A fierce wind blowing diagonally across the pitch favoured KC’s in the first period and they made a great start with a try inside two minutes.Shrewsbury gained early possession and made inroads with a series of pick and goes but when they coughed the ball up some twenty metres inside Kidder’s half they quickly moved it right and a well timed pass by centre Alex Thompson to Josh Winfield saw the winger skate round his opposite number and outstrip the cover for a fine try in the corner.
Eight minutes later, from a scrum on their own ten metre line Shrews No 8 broke through several unconvincing tackles to make good ground and the home side took play on until they were close enough for their No 3 to plunge over the whitewash.Their fullback converted the prop’s try to put them ahead 7-5 and the hosts then began to monopolise possession,running on to short passes at pace and with power to punch holes in KC’s defence and midway through the half crash ball for the No 8 put him over under the posts to make the conversion a formality.
Trailing 14-5 Kidder were struggling to make any real impression on the game,moving the ball laterally but without much forward impetus and Shrew’s defence was coping pretty comfortably.They did,however,concede two penalties in the last five minutes of the half and scrumhalf Chris Pinner slotted over both opportunities to reduce the arrears to 14-11.Nevertheless,KC’s had been second best for most of the first forty minutes and although the late scores offered some encouragement, with the elements against them in the second half they certainly had it all to do.
They did not begin the second period very promisingly when their kick off went straight into touch but they were awarded a free kick at the scrumback on halfway and then raised their game.Winning scrums against the head,competing well at the lineouts,putting together a succession of forwards drives,hounding Shrewsbury into errors and generally playing with much more intent and purpose Kidder,against all expectations,totally dominated for the first quarter of an hour until an attack in Shrew’s 22 broke down in the backs and their No 11 picked up the loose ball and sprinted away.With KC’s fullback Jordan Hatch up in the line the winger had a clear run to the posts and looked certain to score but Winfield tracked across from his wing and brought him down just short with a try saving and,as it transpired,match winning tackle.The Shrewsbury player attempted to offload but the ball went forward and from the resulting scrum Kidder were able to clear their lines.
Following the breakaway KC’s had to start again from deep but with their forwards working really hard they soon took the game back to the home side and ten minutes later their huge effort was rewarded with a penalty which Pinner converted to level the scores at 14-14.KC’s continued to limit Shrewsbury to sporadic forays into their half but a missed penalty to touch invited unnecessary pressure onto themselves for a short spell until a Shrew’s kick went dead in goal to give Kidder scrum possession in a decent position.Coach Andy McLellan,on as a replacement,then worked a neat move down the left with Hatch and winger Laurence Hughes and when play was switched to the other side of the field another lacerating run by Winfield had Shrewsbury alarm bells ringing.KC’s were knocking on the door and with five minutes left to play they blew it open when Hatch safely fielded a Shrew’s clearance kick and fed Winfield whose searing pace skinned three covering defenders on the outside for his second try wide out which despite the wind was superbly converted by Pinner to complete the comeback from 14-5 down to a richly deserved 21-14 lead.
Kidder now just needed to wind down the clock and did so in a very assured manner.From a scrum on halfway Pinner and No8 Layton Wilkinson combined to help take play up to the 22 and a short throw to Jack Tunstall at a lineout enabled the forwards to drive on and set up a ruck with the last play before the ball was kicked into touch to seal a memorable win.
KC’s have a day off next week and will return to league action on 21st March when they host Stafford – KO 3.00 pm.