More improvement still to come from Kenilworth, says Morgan

Kenilworth coach Wayne Morgan says there is more to come from his side after they suffered their second successive defeat of the season at home to near-neighbours Stratford.
Action from Kenilworth's Midlands One West (South) encounter at home to Stratford. Picture submittedAction from Kenilworth's Midlands One West (South) encounter at home to Stratford. Picture submitted
Action from Kenilworth's Midlands One West (South) encounter at home to Stratford. Picture submitted

“I’m disappointed really,” said Morgan.

“I thought there was more in the game for us.

“We saw an improvement from last week.

“We didn’t have an awful lot of scoring opportunities but we executed really well on the opportunities we did get.

“We’ve got a lot more improvement to come so we can get better. It’s back to the drawing board on Tuesday but all the lads are positive.

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“We improved on last week so as long as we keep improving it will come right for us, I’m sure.”

The visitors scored the opening try of the afternoon after just five minutes, skipper Mark Hibberd breaking up the left wing for number eight Craig Vasey to touch down.

Kenilworth responded six minutes later, Jamie Mapletoft chasing down his own kick on the right and outstripping the defence to score a try converted by Josh Hickman.

Two tries in ten minutes then followed for Stratford, the first after they made the most of space out wide before a chip over the Kenilworth defence pushed them into an eight-point lead.

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Kenilworth then had a purple patch of their own as the first half drew to a close.

Scrum-half Gaz Renowden was blocked when chasing his own kick through but centre Harry O’Brien was on hand to touch down.

Renowden then made it on to the scoresheet himself, pressurising Stratford into a knock-on inside their own 22 before running from the back of the scrum to stretch over in the left-hand corner to give his side a 17-15 lead with 34 minutes played.

It took just a minute for Stratford to go back in front, however, with a clever switch on the left wing putting them in for try under the posts.

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The successful conversion enabled them to take a 22-17 lead into the break.

The third quarter of the match saw possession swing between the two sides and it took 26 minutes before the deadlock was broken.

Hickman narrowly missed a penalty that would have put Kenilworth within two points of the visitors and Stratford extended advantage lead with a breakaway try.

That was extended to 15 with six minutes to play as the ball made its way along the Stratford backline before being touched down in the left-hand corner.

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Despite the deficit, Kenilworth did not give up and responded through Ryan Spriggs who crossed after 77 minutes to guarantee Kenilworth a try bonus point.

Although Hickman was successful with an excellent conversion attempt, Kenilworth were unable to secure a losing bonus point and Stratford had the final say of the 
afternoon with an injury-time try to continue their unbeaten start to the season.