Apart from Ben Turner and Simon Clarke,who was making a welcome return from injury,KC’s yet again had no option other than to field a young and inexperienced pack of forwards against fourth placed Leek and unsurprisingly it took them a long time to get to grips with a well drilled home side.
Kidder got off to another poor start,losing their first lineout and then conceding two penalties which enabled Leek to progress from their own ten metre line right up to the visitors five metre line.A clean catch by their second row triggered a lineout drive which was only stopped at the expense of a warning for Turner for coming in at the side and when he transgressed again as the hosts repeated their lineout routine he was yellow carded.At the third time of asking the Moorlanders forwards successfully drove over with No 6 Jacob Bainbridge getting the grounding and with just six minutes played KC’s found themselves not only 5-0 behind but also down to fourteen men.
After a further six minutes Kidder were unceremoniously shoved off their own ball at the first scrum of the afternoon and following a number of Leek phases their scrumhalf Ollie Drew darted under the posts from a ruck five metres out and flyhalf Sam Hunt duly converted.
Restored to full strength,midway through the half a penalty kicked to the hosts 22 by skipper Chris Pinner gave KC’s their first attacking opportunity but the throw was lost and they were soon back defending their own line and with twenty five minutes played they conceded again.From more lineout possession Leek went through the phases and with a penalty advantage in their favour centre Gary McDermott sent a high,hanging crossfield kick to the right corner which Kidder could only help into the grateful arms of No 14 Kiniviliame Bulitautini who had the simplest of tasks to score a third try,well converted by Hunt from wide out for a 19-0 lead.
KC’s then at last enjoyed a five minute spell of possession in Leek territory but from a defensive lineout the home side broke out all the way to the visitors 22 and spotting that the defence was very narrow another McDermott kick for Bulitautini was finished off by the winger but this time he had strayed in front of the kicker into an offside position and Kidder were reprieved,but not for long.With their lineout just not functioning and their scrum also under pressure it was proving to be a chastening first half for KC’s and when some promising link up play by Pinner and winger Arthur Morgan broke down Leek’s No 11 Matt Leadingham twisted and turned his way past a string of would be tacklers before sprinting away to cross for a spectacular bonus point try,again improved by Hunt.
However,Kidder did manage a spirited finish to the first forty minutes and after winning their first lineout with a short throw move which ended with them being held up over the line a quickly taken tap penalty in front of the posts set up a ruck and after a couple of pick an go’s lock Matt Jones forced his way over for a try which Pinner converted with the last kick of the half to give them some encouragement for the second period.
Sure enough,the second half was far more competitive with KC’s starting to achieve some sort of parity in the set pieces.There was certainly no lack of effort and as well as defending doggedly when called upon there were also some bright moments with ball in hand with fullback Chris May-Miller looking particularly lively running from deep..Although still holding a commanding nineteen point lead Leek now knew they were in a game and on the half hour mark Kidder cut the gap just after the hosts lock Luke Harden had been yellow carded at a ruck.A Leek clearance kick was fielded by Pinner under pressure and he managed to offload to May-Miller who in turn released Morgan.The winger then kicked ahead into the in goal area and comfortably won the foot race for a hard earned try which was converted by Pinner to reduce the arrears to 26-14.
In reply,Leek launched a wave of dangerous attacks which had KC’s at full stretch but as the clock ran down it seemed possible that the visitors might just hold out and keep a clean sheet in the second half until with only four minutes remaining the Moorlanders Tom Scragg took the ball at pace to set up a ruck deep in Kidder’s 22 and from the next phase Hunt found a gaping hole to run in unopposed for a fifth try which he converted himself.Straight from the re-start Leek cut loose again and a flowing handling move was finished by Bainbridge for his second try,once more improved by Hunt to bring proceedings to a close.
Although Leek might argue otherwise,from a Kidderminster point of view t he two late tries were a little harsh and gave the final score a somewhat lopsided look but the defeat saw them slip a place to tenth in Mids 2 West (N) and the two upcoming fixtures away to fellow strugglers Newcastle (Staffs) on 10th March and at home to Old Saltleians on the 24th now look absolutely crucial as KC’s battle to stave off relegation but first they have to negotiate a tough local derby at home to Ludlow on 6th March - KO 2.15 pm.