Kings Norton 21

Birmingham Exiles 5

ANY pre-match thoughts of an easy home game against win-less basement boys Exiles were quickly dispelled as the visitors took a surprise lead at Ash Lane.

A quickly taken but unconverted try after five minutes shook the Kings men and it was the visitors who piled on the pressure and pinned Norton back for long periods.

It took 15 minutes before the Kings were able to make any headway against their hard tackling rivals.

From their first real attack fly half Ken Whitehouse was able to reduce the home side's deficit with a long-range penalty.

And with minutes of the half remaining the Exiles defence finally cracked when Norton's closely marshalled winger John Hefford managed to score in the corner.

After the break Norton's left winger Matt James created a try out of nothing when his quick thinking and speed allowed him to block a simple clearance kick by the Exiles full back before pouncing to score a corner flag touchdown.

The visitors continued to frustrate Norton but Whitehouse continued his kicking form and got his second penalty score ten minutes before the end.

The Exiles defence collapsed again with five minutes remaining as Kings captain Mark Waudby started the move which saw the Cooksey brothers combining to provide prop forward Phil Cooksey with the final touchdown.

l Kings Norton seconds smashed Exiles seconds 88-0 while the thirds beat Malvern thirds 35-3.