KC’s squandered a golden opportunity to notch up a much needed win by blowing a sixteen point lead but the losing margin of only six points coupled with the four tries which they scored at least saw them pick up two valuable bonus points and whilst they remain at the foot of Mids 2 West (N) they actually made up ground on fellow strugglers Cleobury and Old Salts who also both lost but without any bonuses.
Flanker Mike Protheroe,returning from injury,soon made his mark on the game,winning early lineout ball,and from the second of two successive throws at the left corner he was on hand to touch down after prop Joe Nicklin had driven for the line and skipper Chris Pinner converted excellently from wide out for a 7-0 lead with just six minutes on the clock.
Newcastle’s re-start did not go ten metres and they continued to make unforced errors,not finding touch with a penalty and then kicking the ball straight out from scrum possession on halfway and they were made to pay for their profligacy when more good work by Protheroe,this time in open play,sent in left wing Ryan Tiene with Pinner again converting well to double the advantage.
Midway through the half Kidder were caught offside just outside their 22 but the visitors fullback Alex Fitzmaurice-James made a horrible mess of the penalty attempt which hardly got off the ground.Nonetheless,the visitors were now beginning to get their act together and enjoyed a ten minute spell of possession and territory during which KC’s had to defend resolutely to keep them at bay.Newcastle were using their big,heavy forwards in an attempt to grind Kidder down and with their scrum also becoming dominant Coach Norman Stalker sent on replacements Rob Phillips and Chris Jones to try and address these issues but with their clearance kicks not making any distance the home side were still struggling to get out of their own 22 and almost conceded when a Newcastle lineout drive rumbled to the line but was held up.However,at the resulting five metre scrum the visitors worked a nice switch move to put winger George White over and close the deficit to 14-5.
Straight from the re-start KC’s were awarded a penalty but the shot at goal was unsuccessful and five minutes before halftime the hosts suffered a major set-back when Protheroe hobbled off with a recurrence of his hamstring problem.
Despite this,after a good take by fullback Jake Shellis and a trademark storming run by No 8 Jess Smith had taken play into the visitors 22 right wing Arthur Morgan displayed good footballing skills before gathering the ball and going round under the posts for a third Carols try,easily converted by Pinner.
At 21-5 and with the halftime whistle only minutes away they appeared to be in cruise control,even more so when a good re-start catch by Rhys Kay and a fine kick by scrumhalf Freddie Morgan established field position with a Kidder throw on Newcastle’s 22.However,to the dismay of the home support,they lost their own lineout and one long kick and a few seconds later attack had been turned into desperate defence and they were in trouble at the corner on their own line.When the visitors moved the ball infield prop Anthony Cornwell almost got over before flyhalf Dan Jones finished the job with a try converted by their fullback and the whole momentum of the game had suddenly changed.
At the start of the second half the next score was clearly going to be vitally important and KC’s began well,going through the phases with some flowing rugby but there was no end product and the spell of pressure was ended by another long Newcastle kick which forced Kidder to drop out from their 22.Having lost possession of the ball they were then caught offside again in front of their posts and this time Fitzmaurice-James accepted the gift.
Suitably encouraged,the visitors were getting up a head of steam and KC’s were at full stretch.They did manage to prevent a pushover try from a five metre scrum but the visitors Liam Bailey,who had started at centre but was now operating at scrumhalf,darted over to bring them to within a point and their No 15’s conversion put them ahead for the first time at 22-21 with a quarter of an hour played.
Kidder regained the lead almost immediately when an offside decision against Newcastle on their 22 enabled Pinner to kick three points.Straight from the re-start the visitors missed the chance to respond in kind when they were unable to convert a somewhat debateable penalty from twenty five metres but five minutes later the fullback made amends with a successful kick when KC’s were themselves again ruled offside.
Anxiety was creeping into Kidder’s play,with the number of errors increasing as they began to force their passes and with fifteen minutes remaining they lost Tiene to a yellow card when he failed to retreat as a Newcastle player was trying to make a clearance kick after calling a mark.Two minutes later the visitors made their numerical advantage pay when Jones spotted a gap and broke clear from almost halfway for an opportunistic try which Fitzmaurice-James improved to extend the lead to 32-24 and with seven minutes left the fullback added his third penalty of the afternoon.
The game was now lost but KC’s belatedly responded with some of their most purposeful rugby and a wave of attacks was rewarded with the all important double bonus point try which could yet prove very significant at the end of the season as Pinner squeezed in at the left corner to make the most of an astute offload in the tackle by Phillips.
There were still five minutes left and Kidder continued to throw the kitchen sink at Newcastle but the Staffordshire held out to pick up five points which will go a long way to easing their own relegation worries.
Next Saturday KC’s travel to Old Saltlieans - KO 2,15 pm.