KIDDERMINSTER Carolians came into this game eager for rugby having missed two games before Christmas due to weather and then more over the holiday period. Their usual slow start, maybe too relaxed, was repeated with sloppy play when they allowed the kick off by the opposition to bounce and then after two minutes gave away a penalty for off-side. Luckily for KC this was missed and seemed to shake up the KC players.
KC were putting pressure on Barkers, Jack O’Hagan made a break to take them into the opposition 22 and set up Ted Morgan to run in an unconverted try.
Gaining possession Barkers replied with a forward drive into the KC 22 towards the right hand touch line and switching the ball the other way then equalised with a try near the posts.
Gaining a penalty, KC quickly fed the ball through the backs for man of the match Hakeem Hussain to go over to score on the right hand touch. KC were getting to grips with the game when a fly hack from Ryan Wainwright went into the Barkers 22 and the quick follow up dispossessed an opposition player enabling Ted Morgan to get his second try. Ted shows his alertness at such times
KC were awarded a penalty in the Barkers 22 and a quick pass for captain Ryan Wainwright, who is often unstoppable over ten metres, to score near the posts. Tom Dalton making the conversion. KC then had a flowing rugby move which was finished with another Ryan Wainwright try, again converted by Tom Dalton.
Just before half time Barkers scored a try so that KC went into the break with a 29-12 lead.
The second half started with more KC pressure in the Barkers half which was rewarded when  Hakeem Hussain made a lovely break cutting into the Barkers 22. Then after several passes in the backs the ball ended up with George Tildesley who feinted a pass and a gap in the opposition defence opened up for him to score close to the posts. Tom Dalton making his third conversion.
The second half continued with both sides understanding the strengths of their opposition and able to nullify attacks. KC defence was very good particularly in the second half, Barkers gained a lot of possession through the forwards, even so KC were able to restrict Barkers to a single unconverted try in the second half.
All the backs played well, Chris Pinner his usual reliable self,  Tom Dalton and Jack O’Hagan both putting in good tackles and making great contributions to attacks. 
This was a good team performance; it is gratifying to see how this young team has developed on their journey since the beginning of the season and this must be attributed to the coaching team and the players working  well together.
The game ended in very dark and wet conditions as the low cloud crept in.
Final score: KC 36 Barkers Butts 17

Report submitted by Kidderminster Carolians