Kidderminster Carolians 29 - 35 Newcastle (Staffs)

KIDDERMINSTER Carolians threw away a sixteen point lead at home to remain rooted to the foot of Midlands Two West (North).

Despite the loss their four-try haul and small margin of defeat meant they collected two bonus points to gain ground of fellow strugglers Cleobury and Old Saltleians.

KCs started well, flanker Mike Protheroe touched down on six minutes after prop Joe Nicklin had driven for the line, skipper Chris Pinner added the extras.

Sloppy play by Newcastle was punished quickly, Protheroe, this time in open play, sent in left wing Ryan Tiene with Pinner again converting to double the advantage.

The visitors began to assert themselves after 20 minutes with plenty of possession and territory plus scrum domination.

Kidderminster coach Norman Stalker sent on replacements Rob Phillips and Chris Jones but with clearance kicks not making any distance the home side were still struggling to get out of their own 22.

Newcastle finally got their reward with a try from winger George White after a five metre scrum.

Straight from the restart KCs were awarded a penalty but the shot at goal was unsuccessful and five minutes before half time Protheroe hobbled off with a recurrence of a hamstring injury.

Despite the setback the hosts added to their tally, a run by Jess Smith into the opposing 22 put Arthur Morgan in for a try under the posts which Pinner converted.

Newcastle were to have the final say in the half with a converted try from fly-half Dan Jones after pressure on the Kidder line which made the score at the break 21-12.

KCs began the second half with a period of sustained pressure but no reward and a long Newcastle kick forced Kidder to drop out from their 22.

Having lost possession of the ball Kidderminster were then caught offside again in front of their posts and Alex Fitzmaurice-James accepted the gift.

The visitors were now in the ascendancy, Liam Bailey, who had started at centre but moved to scrum-half, darted over to bring them to within a point and their No 15’s conversion put them ahead for the first time.

Kidder regained the lead almost immediately when an offside decision against Newcastle on their 22 enabled Pinner to kick three points.

The lead changed hands again with a penalty score after an offside infringement and anxiety was creeping into Kidder’s play, with the number of errors increasing as they began to force their passes.

They suffered a further blow when Tiene was sin-binned for failing to retreat and two minutes later the visitors made their numerical advantage pay.

Jones spotted a gap and broke clear from almost halfway for an opportunistic try which Fitzmaurice-James improved.

Pinner added the bonus point try after a wave of Kidder attacks but Newcastle resisted further pressure to secure the win.

Next Saturday KCs travel to Old Saltleians (2.15pm kick-off).