Kingfishers looking for improvement after Welsh defeat - The Redditch Standard

Kingfishers looking for improvement after Welsh defeat

Redditch Editorial 5th Oct, 2016 Updated: 18th Oct, 2016   0

Redditch 6 Coventry Welsh 22

Midlands Four West (South)

THE KINGFISHERS were left frustrated on Saturday as they lost a hard fought game at Bromsgrove Road.

The hosts competed well but know they have lots to improve on when they visit Harbury on Saturday.




Having been led on to the field by four of the Redditch mini players, the home side were in good heart, but from the opening scrum it was evident the forwards would be in for a long afternoon.

The Coventry Welsh pack were able to drive Redditch back and wheel the No 8 into clear space. He duly obliged with a number of thundering runs from the base of the scrum.


The first score was not long in coming when a perfect maul and drive from a lineout on the right saw Welsh hooker Lee Ashford cross for an unconverted try.

Redditch then enjoyed a brief spell of possession when accurate kicking for the touchlines brought them into good field position. When the Welsh strayed offside, Will Heath stepped up to score a penalty which made it 5-3.

Bryn Williams was tackling well as the last line of defence and he succeeded in smothering a promising attack on the right, but Welsh No 8 Matt Carrier took full advantage of the quick ball and disorganised Redditch defence to trot over unopposed between the sticks. Liam Horan added the two points to make it 12-3.

This spurred Redditch into their best ten minutes of the game as full back Williams led the charge.

However, on several occasions promising attacks were broken up by penalties, the last pass going astray or committed Welsh defence.

Eventually, as half time approached, Coventry argued once too often and the resulting 10m penalty brought it within range for Heath who made the half time score 12-6.

Redditch started brightly in the second half and a good drive up the middle from Nathan Marthews brought the penalty. On this occasion though, Heath shanked the ball and the opportunity to go within three points was lost.

With the scrum still under pressure, Redditch had a rushed kick charged down and were lucky to scramble the ball down for a relieving 22m drop.

Redditch were trying everything and a couple of front of lineout moves from Stan Hull saw good ground gained. This was followed by some bright attacking play which saw Redditch bundled into touch deep in the Coventry half.

However, with Redditch having the upper hand, an injury to the Coventry lineout jumper caused a long delay as he was treated and when play resumed with 20 minutes to go the Welsh were able to clear their lines and come back with renewed purpose.

With ten minutes to go the Redditch scrum was demolished, losing the tight head and defending manfully as Coventry attacked from the free ball.

Under pressure, Redditch made a poor clearing kick to centre field. The ball was gathered and went through several pairs of hands to winger Carl Ledington to score on the right.

Two minutes later, with home captain Gareth Davies out of the play and receiving attention, a loose Redditch kick went straight to Ledington and the winger scored a fine individual try as he showed the Redditch defenders a clean pair of heels to secure a bonus point for Welsh.

On Saturday Redditch’s Development squad host Old Halesonians in the Merit League.

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