KIDDERMINSTER Carolians went down 18-15 in a closely-fought game with Shrewsbury.

Their opponents played a tight 10-man game while KC's tried to move the ball at every opportunity and the match could have gone either way.

Shrewsbury were the first to open the scoring when their winger barged over.

KC's immediately hit back with some excellent back play and were rewarded with a pair of tries.

The first by Andy Webber split the Shrewsbury defence and shortly after a similar move saw Quinn, Ross and Pinner combine to allow James Whitehouse to cross the line.

Stooksbury's touch-line conversion gave KC's a 12-5 lead.

Five minutes before half-time, a charged-down drop out led to a second Shrewsbury try.

KC's started the second-half nervously and they went behind when another defensive mistake allowed Shrewsbury a five-metre scrum, which resulted in a try.

Stooksbury was then sin-binned and a Shrewsbury penalty took the lead to six points before a Chris Pinner penalty reduced the deficit to three.

Kidderminster Seconds overcame the same opponents 43-10 while the thirds took their unbeaten run to 10 matches after a 26-22 win against Dixonian Seconds.