Kidderminster Carolians

The Marlpool Lane men started brightly as they went in search of their first points of the season, but they were soon put in their place by the high-flying Shropshire side.

A series of early penalties helped the visitors click into gear and eased the pressure on the visitors.

They had racked up a 15-0 lead by half-time thanks to Mike Preece's two tries and a penalty and conversion from Danny Markevics with KCs unable to secure much quality scrum or line-out ball.

Nathan Small's harsh sin-binning hardly helped matters and even the second half advantage of playing with the wind failed to rouse KCs.

The home side continued to battle hard in the loose and had a lot of pressure which could not quite be converted into points.

Olly Toms made great inroads into the defence and Eddie Ross worked hard to create openings but the Bridgnorth defence held firm.

And the visitors turned the screw by adding three more tries from Ben Turner (2) and Craig Thomas, with Chris Cadwallader kicking three conversions.

Player-coach Andy Stooksbury felt the scoreline did not accurately reflect the game.

He said: "I was pleased with our work-rate and determination.

"We never gave up and had long periods of pressure against the league leaders but the line-out was very disappointing.

"We will have to work hard on it for next week's friendly against Redditch."

KCs seconds were also out-classed by Bridgnorth thirds/fourths, going down 52-14.

One of their worst first half displays in recent memory saw them trail 40-0 at the break.

After a change of tactics, KCs made some headway and tries from Simon Higgs and Dan Lowe, converted by Iain Crokcett, gave the scoreline a hint of respectability.

Mick Crocker is stepping down as second team skipper, due to work commitments.

KC's thirds restored some pride by grinding out a 10-3 victory over Bridgnorth.

Steve Water scored a try with Spencer Crockett kicking a penalty and a conversion to take their winning run to five games.