KCRFC 1st XV v Droitwich (H) – Saturday 24th January

KC’s scraped past local rivals Droitwich in this North Mids Shield quarter final tie to win the right to play Moseley Oak in the semis on a date yet to be confirmed.
Kidder started brightly and after five minutes right wing Josh Winfield made a safe catch from a Droitwich clearance kick and passed infield to fullback Alex Thompson who moved the ball on to centre Rhys Pritchard and his dummy breached the defensive line.Retreating at a rate of knots,the visitors conceded two penalties in quick succession at which the referee played advantage and when none accrued he brought play back but KC’s kick at goal drifted wide.
Regaining possession from the 22 drop out,the home side went through some more decent phases but Droitwich were able to relieve the early Kidder pressure with a penalty to touch.However,following the lineout on KC’s ten metre line the visitors lost the ball and KC’s counter attacked down the left through winger Laurence Hughes and prop James Rigsby before switching inside to flyhalf Andy McLellan and his crossfield kick bounced kindly for Winfield who raced over for the opening score with nine minutes on the clock.
It was all Kidderminster at this stage and a desperate Droitwich were giving away penalties trying to stem the tide.A KC’s pot at goal fell just short but was knocked on and when the ball was picked up under the posts in an offside position scrumhalf Chris Pinner slotted the simple chance to extend the lead to 8-0.Kidder continued to keep Droitwich penned in and the visitors found their kicks out of defence being run back at them when clean takes by first McLellan and then Thompson instigated some flowing rugby which almost produced scores but a knock on under the sticks and a penalty offence at a five metre lineout let Droitwich off the hook.
After twenty three minutes a raking kick to touch at last gave the visitors field position on KC’s five metre line.Kidder’s throw was not straight and from the scrum Droitwich went right but their winger knocked on and Hughes hacked the loose ball upfield before it was worked to Winfield who kicked into the in goal area.He easily won the foot race but was unable to ground the ball cleanly and the Wychavon side escaped again.
Droitwich were not in the game as an attacking force and KC’s could have been out of sight but were made to pay for not turning their dominance into points when the visitors opened their account on twenty eight minutes with their first chance of the match,a well struck penalty by their No 10.Encouraged by this score,they then enjoyed a good spell of possession and a forwards drive won them a penalty five metres out.They opted for a scrum and a pushover try for their No 8,converted by their flyhalf,put them ahead 10-8 five minutes before the interval when they had hardly been in the game.
In the first minute of the second period KC’s carelessly kicked straight into touch from outside their 22 to gift the visitors an attacking lineout and they looked certain to score when their No 8 burst from a ruck with a clear run to the line but a last ditch tap tackle by flanker Mike Protheroe caused him to lose the ball inches short of the whitewash.Droitwich were,however,now looking a completely different side and a couple of minutes later went over at the right corner after scything through Kidder’s cover with alarming ease.An excellent conversion extended their lead to 17-8 and KC’s were suddenly in real trouble.They were losing the battle up front with their forwards conceding a string of penalties both at the breakdown and the set pieces but midway through the half they mounted a concerted attack on Droitwich’s line with a series of drives from a close range scrum and when the visitors were yellow carded for a high tackle Pinner made no mistake with the penalty.
Three minutes later George Morgan,on as a replacement after a long injury lay off and playing out of position at fullback,linked with his threes and following some more eye catching play by the elusive Winfield KC’s went infield and blindside Chris Baldwin crashed over under the posts for a try with Pinner adding the extras to put them back in front 18-17.With ten minutes left to play Kidder were penalised at a scrum just outside their 22 and were mightily relieved when Droitwich’s flyhalf,who had kicked well throughout,missed the chance to win the game.In the closing minutes it took a terrific tackle by centre Rich Sollom to halt a menacing Droitwich attack and with both sides making mistakes in a frenetic finish KC’s managed to hold on – just!
They certainly made hard work of it and next week will need to play at full throttle for the whole eighty minutes when they return to league action at home to Wolverhampton.

Kidderminster Carolians RFC

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