Redditch Sport
Merry Mills seals Kingfishers’ success
3:30pm Wednesday 22nd February 2012
GUTSY Redditch dragged themselves off the bottom of the Midlands Three West (South) with a gritty and determined victory against Southam, which leavesthemonly a point below the safety zone.
The Kingfishers seemed to want the result just that little bit more than the opposition and deservedly took victory after scoring two tries.
Simon Fitzpatrick returned from injury and played a key role in moving theRedditchpackforward and getting past the gain-line.
Two chances went begging before Redditch got the first score 10 minutes into the game.
As the home pack drove forward, Mark Morris received the ball and jinked his way over the line from close range.
After the first quarter the pace of the game started to slow and Southam began to work their way into Redditch territory.
The home team defended well, but Southam played in the right areas and forced two penalties in front of the posts to lead at the break.
The second period was evenly-matched with both defences on top and few chances being created.
The turning point came in the last quarter following the sin-binning of an influential Southam player for infringement at the line-out.
Redditch sensed victory and began to target the visiting packwhoweredown to seven.
A series of five-metre scrums put huge pressure on the visiting team and a try seemed inevitable.
Scrum-half James Mills saw the opportunity to pounce and picked up from the blindside of the scrum and scampered his way over.
Southam seemed to run out of will and energy after that and the Redditch defence stayed solid to claim the victory.
The Kingfishers next two fixtures are on the road starting at high-flying Shipston on Saturday, before the trip to Coventry-based Pinley the week after (both 2.15pm kick-off).