Kidderminster Carolians

The Marlpool Lane strugglers were dreaming of their first points of the season as they led 13-man Sutton 12-10 at half-time, but they eventually succumbed to a 49-19 defeat.

KCs started well and were soon 6-0 up thanks to two Andy Stooksbury penalties, although they were cancelled out when mistakes let Sutton in for a converted try.

But KCs regained the lead with a third Stooksbury penalty before Tom Mayer was sin-binned and Sutton had a player sent off for stamping.

Sutton edged in front again with a simple penalty, but on the stroke of half time a high tackle left Sutton down to 13-men and Stooksbury put over the resulting long range penalty to give KCs a slender interval lead.

The second half started badly when Sutton regained the lead in the first two minutes and the confidence drained out of KCs' younger players.

They continued to increase their lead at regular intervals and racked up 37 second half points with KCs committing some basic errors.

In the last minute Dan Quinn sprinted in for a consolation try with Stooksbury adding his fifth successful kick to make the final score 47-19.

KCs are in the pool for a friendly home fixture after their scheduled match was cancelled because Harborne have cup commitments.

Stooksbury said: "We could do with a nice morale-booster, preferably against someone weaker than us or a team going through an equally difficult time.

"I personally think we need to put our full side out and get a win because that would boost our confidence."

l KC's seconds coped with a series of late changes to put in a decent performance at home to Evesham - but still lost 19-13.

They went 10-0 up with Russ Slater's try and Ian Crockett's conversion and penalty, but they could not hold on to their lead.

And despite a second penalty from Crockett, Evesham clinched it with three tries and two conversions.

KCs seconds and thirds have also gone into the pool for a friendly after scheduled clashes with Harborne were cancelled.