KCRFC 1st XV v Tamworth (H) – Saturday 11th January

KC’s 46 Tamworth 12

Although way below their best in their final league match of the 2014 - 2015 campaign KC’s got the job done against rock bottom Tamworth,who had long since been condemned to relegation,and comfortably secured the win they needed to guarantee third spot following their return to Mids 2 West (N) and in so doing they replicated their finishing position in the previous two seasons in Mids 2 West (S).
Kidder got off to a flying start when they won a penalty in the very first minute and Chris Pinner knocked over the kick from thirty metres.Two minutes later the scrumhalf struck a post with another penalty attempt from much further out but with still only four minutes on the clock some straightforward passing along the threes and full back Jordan Hatch’s intrusion into the line were enough to create an overlap for left wing Alex Thompson to cross at the corner for the first try of the afternoon and an 8-0 lead.
After Tamworth had missed a presentable penalty opportunity Pinner made no mistake when he was given another chance midway through the half. KC’s were bossing the breakdowns,at which the visitors were conceding a string of penalties but somehow managing to avoid a yellow card,and Tamworth were surviving by the skin of their teeth.When they were penalised for feeding the scrum centre George Morgan made a break from the free kick to set up a potential score but the final pass went astray.A try also looked on the cards when the No 13 broke clear again but the referee had spotted an off the ball indiscretion by Tamworth’s scrumhalf and rather than playing the advantage he brought play back for a Kidderminster penalty which came to nothing.The home side were in almost total control but were looking sluggish and on the half hour all three subs were brought on to try and instil more urgency.On cue,three minutes later Tamworth’s backs were caught offside and Pinner punished them with his third penalty.
The re-start went dead to give Kidder possession at the scrum back on halfway and from a lineout on the visitors 22 replacement No 8 Layton Wilkinson took the ball on but when it was moved right the last pass was again not good enough and when a similar opening was created moments later the outcome was the same and another chance went begging.However,from the resultant Tamworth 22 drop out a Wilkinson charge produced good ball to give Morgan an easy run in for a 19-0 interval lead which really should have been a lot more.
In the first half Tamworth had offered hardly any threat as an attacking force but they began the second period with a rare spell of pressure in KC’s 22 until their progress was ended by a knock on and Kidder then worked their way upfield,going through the phases with good support play by the forwards.When they reached the 22 Wilkinson suddenly burst clear from Tamworth’s evaporating defence and with his brilliant white boots glistening in the Spring sunshine he showed them a clean pair of heels to score under the posts and Pinner’s conversion put the hosts ahead 26-0.
Eight minutes into the half Kidder were penalised at a scrum on their 22 and were slow to react as Tamworth took a quick tap and worked the short side to put right wing Rob Gemmell over in the corner for a try which was well converted by their No 12 to reduce the deficit to 26-7.KC’s were making hard work of it but two minutes later Morgan broke free from his would be tacklers to score wide out on the right and with Tamworth now getting stretched yet another run by Wilkinson in open play enabled Hatch to wriggle over in the right corner.With twenty five minutes played the irrepressible Wilkinson crossed for his second try to finish off a fine passage of play by Kidder’s forwards and extend the advantage to 41-7.
The game then became scrappy and seemed to be petering out but with five minutes remaining it sparked back to life.Morgan was denied a third try by a forward pass but almost immediately afterwards he made another line break to complete his hat-trick.Tamworth were fortunate that most of the conversion attempts from KC’s five second half tries were into a strong crossfield wind,which helped to keep the score down,and right on fulltime Gemmell grabbed a consolation second try from scrum possession after Kidder had carelessly knocked on trying to run the ball out of defence.
It would be churlish to criticise a seven try bonus point win,whatever the limitations of the opposition,but KC’s will be looking for a big improvement when they take on either Bridgnorth or Malvern in the final of the North Mids Shield which will be played at Dudley Kingswinford on Sunday 10th May – KO 1.30 pm.