Kenilworth’s survival hopes head South

KENILWORTH 12 SOUTH LEICESTER 50

Kenilworth’s slim hopes of National Three Midlands survival suffered another severe blow at the hands of second-placed South Leicester, writes Bob Jones.

Nonetheless, during the last quarter of the contest, the never-say-die approach of the hosts resulted in an encouraging comeback, even allowing for the visitors having taken their foot off the accelerator.

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The portents were not good when the kick-off was bodged and a scrum conceded by the home side. However, the lively Dave Clements soon snaffled a loose ball to set up an attack, during which South were penalised for not releasing.

Unfortunately, this was the signal for the visitors to move into top gear, with their physicality to the fore in both defence and attack.

Some good moves by the Ks, with Rob Bennett, Jonathon Cresswell, Nic Lake and Clements prominent, were simply blown away.

The cracks widened, and in the 14th minute, the ever-reliable boot of Mark Lord opened the scoring with a penalty following an offside.

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South pounded away and it was no surprise when lock Sam Badham powered over, Lord converting the try after 22 minutes.

The impressive Cresswell stormed away only to see his effort spoilt by a poor pass, before Bale again threatened with another charge which was halted by an outstanding tackle from Adam Canning.

The floodgates opened with centre Connor Smith next across the line, followed by number eight Chris Bale, Lord adding extras to both tries.

A better spell for the Ks ensued, the highlights of which were breaks by Canning and Clements.

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As the half-time whistle approached, an unconverted try from full-back Nick Griffin following a slick bout of passing added to Kenilworth’s woes.

South extended their lead with their first foray of the second half, Adam Blayney, who spent a short time at the Jack Davies Memorial Ground earlier in the season, finishing in style. Lord resumed normal service with the conversion.

Smith soon followed suit with his second converted try.

Tom Kendall was introduced in place of Ian Bowden and a better spell followed for Ks.

A penalty to touch by Will Maisey and a subsequent free-kick set up a position from which the pack drove over, Dan Roberts getting the touch-down and Maisey improving the score with the aid of an upright.

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South struck back immediately, with Blayney finding an easy route to the line after quick ball from a set-piece.

James Wadey replaced the hard-working and limping Lake for the final quarter, which was dominated by Kenilworth.

Canning, Bennett and Kendall made neat breaks, with the latter also taking what appeared to be a scoring pass close to the line, only to offload to the floor when it seemed easier to touch down.

To their credit, this pressure, aided by a slight slackening of effort by South, was maintained until the final whistle.

Just reward came with Wadey crossing in the corner to complete the last move of the match.