Kidderminster Carolians Rugby Club review of the year by Brian Gittins

A second league championship in three years is something to be pleased about, and really they were the best side in the division in 1998-99, but failed narrowly to win the title.

There have been few changes to the first XV squad, but the success has come from a combination of the improvement shown by several of the younger fellows, and a commitment second-to-none from some of the "veterans".

KCs have had a good-sized squad to select from, and whoever was called up played his part.

Sometimes there were quite a few men unavailable through injury or other reasons, but the team still performed well, if often leaving the supporters biting their fingernails.

Games that would have been lost a few years back were won by determination and team work.

Having qualified for the Tetley Cup, it was poor luck to be drawn away at Barker Butts in the preliminary round.

KCs had hardly done any serious training and were several players short.

Add to that a temperature more suited to southern Europe, and it was no wonder they fell at the first hurdle.

The following Saturday's trip to Bromsgrove for a friendly did not exactly lift the spirits, but the next Saturday was to be different.

The opening league fixture, at old rivals Edwardians, brought the best out of KCs, and they ran out comfortable winners at 42-0.

They also won the next seven games, five of them in the league, before making the mistake of taking on one of the local "big boys" in the shape of Dudley-Kingswinford.

D-K have had a tremendous season, winning Midlands One and gaining promotion to the national leagues, and lifting the North Midlands Cup.

Kidderminster always enjoy the challenge of taking on senior opposition.

Barker Butts and D-K are three divisions above them and Bromsgrove two, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Another hefty loss against an almost full-strength Dudley-Kings did nothing to halt their next run of victories.

Eight wins in succession, with another five league wins, put them in the driving seat.

Some of the games were so pulsating and went right down to the final whistle.

The trip to Nuneaton Old Edwardians was to be the key to success or failure.

They were neck and neck with KCs, but another great team display saw them win 21-0.

The last Saturday of January had the local supporters wondering what had happened.

Southam came from Warwickshire and departed with the points, following a narrow 12-10 win.

By the next Saturday it was all forgotten.

Another six wins in a row, including perhaps the best fight-back of the season.

Dixonians had led 8-7 at half-time and their small pitch and slope did not suit KCs.

Fifteen minutes into the second half and they were 18-7 down.

Fresh legs came on and turned the tide.

Two tries took them to within a point, and Andy Stooksbury, as he has often done over the years, kicked a last-minute conversion to steal the match and two valuable league points.

Having progressed through one round of the North Midlands Cup, they drew Hereford, another team from higher reaches.

KCs had beaten them in the same competition the season before, and were leading 22-7 at half-time.

The bubble burst, and Hereford's intimidation proved too much.

They walked all over KCs in a short space of time in the second half, eventually winning 42-29.

Although KCs had won the league mathematically some games before, it was good to confirm it in front of a big crowd at Warley on their Old Players Day.

There were further wins in friendlies against Newcastle (Staffordshire) and Aston Old Eds.

The trip to play the Worcester Development squad under the Six Ways floodlights set the clock back.

A very strong Worcester side, not lacking in first team experience, did not overawe Kidderminster.

Played in continuous rain, the game once again showed that KCs will take on the best, in an endeavour to learn.

The final score was 43-12 but KCs scored two tries.

KCs won 25 of the 31 matches played, scoring 804 points and conceding 536.

Leading try scorers were: Jon Taft 15, Eddie Ross 13, Jim Thompson and Ambrogio Neri 10.

Leading points scorers were: Andy Stooksbury 152 (34 conversions, 26 penalties, two drop goals, one try), and Andy McLellan 139 (18 conversions, 11 penalties, eight tries).

The emergence of young players such as Taft, Matt Bennett, Stuart Such and McLellan, bodes well for the club's future.

The experienced players around them have given these boys a lot of confidence.

One of those veterans is Paul Drew.

The wrong side of his mid-40s, he has hardly missed a match.

Playing in the front row, he had hardly ever been out-played by the opposition - a credit, and a great example.

Stooksbury missed a lot of the season through injury, but McLellan was an able deputy.

Matt Smith represented Worcester and Hereford in the County Championship.

With Ian Bletcher departing, new coach Ross Baxter inherits a very good squad, and hopefully can carry on the progress made in the last three years.

The second XV, under the guidance of Rob Preston, have had a good season.

They have 17 of their 30 games and reached the final of the Kidderminster Carolians second XV Cup, where they were beaten by a side who did not enter into the spirit of the competition and fielded half of their first team.

Martyn Wright and Kevin Pugh have often been short of players for third and fourth team games - a problem facing clubs throughout the country.

Coach Bletcher received warm tributes as he left KCs after four years on Friday.

Chairman Norman Broadfield told guests at the club's end-of-season dinner at Stourport Manor Hotel: "Ian has been with us for four years and he has done a fantastic job.

"We have finished in the top four of our league every year and have been promoted twice.

"He has changed the way we play rugby and has been enormously influential," said Broadfield who presented the departing coach with a cut-glass memento of his time with KCs.

The Kidderminster club were in celebratory mood after clinching Division Two of the Midlands West League and the player-of-the-year award went to second row forward Simon Wilkes.

Principal guest at the dinner was David Watkins, the only man to skipper the British Lions and the Great Britain rugby league team.

Fly-half Watkins started his career with Newport and went on to captain his country and the Lions before switching to the league code.

He was transferred to Salford for a world record fee of £16,000 and played for Swinton and Great Britain before receiving an MBE for his services to rugby.