KC’s faced a stiff test at Camp Hill who started the day in second place in Mids 2 West (N) and despite a battling performance they went down by eight points in a match which was high on endeavour but for the most part lacked real quality.

The home side dominated early possession and territory but a string of errors saw several promising situations go to waste and their profligacy enabled Kidderminster to keep their line intact.

After a kicking exchange a good chance fell to the visitors in the eleventh minute with the award of a penalty for a high tackle but the kick at goal from some thirty metres on the angle went wide.

KC’s began to settle into the game and centre George Morgan and fullback Andy McLellan combined well to punch a hole in midfield but the incursion was ended by a penalty for Camp Hill and the momentum remained with the hosts.

They threatened again from a scrum just inside Kidder’s half after a trademark towering kick by fly-half Simon Edwards had been dropped but more careless passing and handling let them down.

Surging runs by No 8 Rob Hill and openside Rob Hunt kept Kidder on the back foot and after a good lineout steal by captain Mark Newton the visitors' backs were caught offside in front of their posts just inside their 22 and they had a huge let off when the usually reliable Edwards horribly miscued his kick.

The pressure continued to mount and with half an hour played Camp Hill created space for left wing Sam Garratt to go over for an unconverted try.

As half time approached KCs enjoyed a rare decent spell of possession, running the ball well from a scrum on their 22 to create numbers on the right until a knock-on by the hosts stopped further progress.

A KC's scrum on Camp Hill’s ten metre line led to a promising attack only to be thwarted by a forward pass.

A dash down the short side by skipper Chris Pinner sent right wing Arthur Morgan on a run which took him past three defenders into the 22 and although hesitation saw him stopped, the clearance kick was run back by his brother George who drew another penalty opportunity, the last kick of the half, but again the chance was not taken.

Nonetheless given the limited amount of ball they had in the first forty minutes Kidder would have been happy to reach the break only five points behind.

The second period began with Camp Hill again well on top but although KCs were missing five forwards and a specialist lineout jumper they continued to make a contest of it up front.

The visitors defended defiantly but eventually their resistance was finally broken twelve minutes into the half when Camps' hooker Adam Willis burrowed over from a close range ruck for a second unconverted try which doubled their lead.

Four minutes later another Edwards howitzer saw Camp Hill win the aerial duel and a deft pass out the back of the hand put replacement Ollie Linnett in the clear and he raced away to score in the left corner with Edwards conversion attempt this time striking the crossbar.

Now trailing 15-0, KCs still tried to play their rugby whenever they could get their hands on the ball but a knock-on and a lost lineout soon had them back defending for their lives until they managed to hack the ball all the way from their own 22 right up to Camps’ line.

The home side had to kick the ball dead to rescue the situation, giving Kidder a five metre scrum under the posts. It was a great attacking position but the scrum was disrupted, resulting in a penalty for Camp Hill and a yellow card for prop Matt Rigsby.

Despite the disappointment the fourteen men still stuck at it and four minutes from time they got some reward with an interception try from halfway by centre Rhys Pritchard which fly-half Freddie Morgan converted, remarkably the only successful goal kick of the entire game.

Camp Hill slipped to fourth in the table as a result of their failure to secure a bonus point and KCs,who also missed chances to keep the scoreboard ticking, are now five points behind Tamworth in what increasingly appears to be a race for fifth spot between the two sides and Stafford.

Next week KC’s make the short trip to Stourton to take on local rivals Stourbridge Lions in the North Mids Shield.