Midlands Division Two West (South) Moseley Oak 13 Kidderminster Carolians 22 KIDDERMINSTER Carolians enhanced their push for a top four finish in the Midlands Division Two West (South) with a second successive win over Moseley Oak.

KCs followed on from their comprehensive victory over the Birmingham side in the North Midlands Shield with a hard fought success in the league, which closes the gap on fourth place to just a point.

Despite missing twins, Chris and Alex Baldwin, powerhouse Layton Wilkinson and the mercurial Josh Winfield and playing on a pitch more suited to cross country than the running rugby, Kidderminster showed tremendous character and bravery to eventually prevail at the end of a gruelling encounter in which five players were given yellow cards.

KCs had slipped 5-0 behind after two minutes but edged into a narrow second-half lead when Richard Sollom touched down and Chris Pinner converted.

In the second half, Laurence Hughes and Jordan Hatch were involved as Sollom put the finishing touches to another fine move.

Moseley replied with a try of their own but Rhys Pritchard touched down and Pinner added the extras, as Kidderminster extended their lead to 19-10.

With the match increasingly becoming an attritional battle in the mud, KC were having to do a lot of defending, but their scrum was holding up remarkably well, and Pinner and the back row were harrying Moseley.

Midway through the half, replacement forward Simon Clarke was shown yellow and at the next play flanker Mike Protheroe and the host’s number eight were also both given 10 minutes in the bin.

But 13 man KCs resisted an intense spell of Oak pressure, who did score a penalty.

Carolians replied courtesy of the unerring boot of Pinner with a penalty, but they had had to survive seven minutes of time added with 13 men, as Pinner became the fifth recipient of a yellow card and George Morgan lay injured.