Rugby Union - Maloney scores for Upton in derby joy (From Ledbury Reporter)

Rugby Union - Maloney scores for Upton in derby joy

2:00pm Sunday 28th October 2012 in Sport

UPTON missed out on a bonus point against Worcestershire rivals Kidderminster Carolians with a 29-14 Midlands Two West (South) home defeat.

Their injury jinx continued as centre Rich Jeynes had to pull out late on with broken fingers which added to the continued absence of James Hynes.

The game started at a fast pace as the visitors used their huge forwards to try and batter down Upton’s defence.

KCs took the lead with a Chris Pinner penalty but Upton scored the first try.

Openside Tom Dodge made 50 metres, darting and powering through tackles before offloading for the supporting hooker Liam Moloney to score from five metres out with Chris O’Neil converting.

KCs soon took the lead with a converted try when they used their powerful forwards to drive over from a line-out.

Upton’s day was then one of conceding penalties as they were constantly pegged back by the referee and kicks to the corner.

Just before half-time, KCs again laid siege to the Upton line after a driving maul was halted and Layton Wilkinson powered over in the corner for a second try to make the half-time score 15-7.

Upton just could not get hold of the ball enough to unleash their speedy backs in the second period.

Alex Pimlow and Dan Aldersey showed good pace out wide but Upton’s lack of confidence was clear as they squandered half-chances.

KCs seemed to seal the victory with a converted try after 60 minutes which again came from their powerful forwards.

However, Upton back-row duo Max Macfarlane and Matt Dunwell showed their potential with strong, pacey runs off James Gammond from scrum-half, while skipper Matthew Cock tested the KCs defence.

Eventually, Upton pulled the score back to 22-14 when O’Neil added the extras from the touchline to 17-year-old Dunwell’s try.

Winger Joe Ayres was held up in the corner and Upton went back across the field from the resulting ruck.

The hosts were close to a losing bonus point but fell foul of the referee and KCs scored a converted try as they sucked in the back row and powered through under the posts.