KCRFC 40, Veseyans 18

THIS Midlands Two West (North) clash had added spice as a dress rehearsal for the North Midlands Shield final on May 7.

Veseyans enjoyed a territorial advantage in the opening exchanges but it was the home side who were first on the scoreboard with two penalties from fly half Rhys Pritchard.

Sloppy play from the restart and a resulting penalty to KCs' 22 led to a converted try for Veseyans.

The score boosted the visitors and shortly afterwards their openside Dean Morris almost got over after a loose bouncing ball ricocheted to him but Kidder escaped with a five metre scrum.

A terrific run by Hillandale Caravans man of the match No 8 Jess Smith suddenly had Veseyans on the back foot.

When he was tackled KCs moved the ball left and fullback James Whitehouse came into the line to cross wide out and put them back ahead.

Poor lineout play and aimless kicking however allowed Veseyans to regain the initiative and second row Adam Mitchell took advantage of slick passing to cross the line and restore his team's lead to make the half time score 11-12.

The second period began with another storming run by Smith and with seven minutes played Kidder at last produced some continuity and a try by centre George Morgan.

For the next quarter of an hour they came under sustained pressure and when Veseyans escaped down the left it took a last ditch tackle by Morgan to prevent a score.

KCs capitalised on the reprieve with a break out of defence by centre Tom Maher which took him into the visitors' half and when he tried to find support a high tackle gave Pritchard the opportunity to land another penalty from the ten metre line.

Three minutes later Griffiths replied with a penalty of his own which deflected in off the right post to again reduce the margin to four points before another successful penalty closed the gap to one point.

Veseyans knocked on the restart and KCs swarmed into their 22 and won a penalty eight metres out.

They opted for a scrum from which George Morgan almost broke through and then, critically for the visitors, Williams was yellow carded and Kidder took full advantage to turn the game on its head with three tries in the last eight minutes.

First, they again took the scrum option and even though they looked certain to score anyway they were awarded a penalty try. Then a rampaging attack saw Morgan just lose the foot race after he had kicked ahead into the in-goal area but shortly afterwards Pritchard wriggled through the tackles to touch down deep into time added on and with the last play of the match a scintillating run by Arthur Morgan ended with a spectacular try for the left wing.

All three tries were converted by Pritchard to give the scoreline a flattering look and clinch the unlikeliest of bonus point wins.

Having completed a league double over Veseyans, Kidderminster will go into the Shield final as favourites but will be looking for a much improved performance.