Alcester handed home walkover against Kenilworth 2nds
Alcester made it back-to-back wins at the start of the league season with a comprehensive 36-0 win over the reigning Warwickshire 2nd XV Cup champions Kenilworth 2nds, reports Amy Flynn.
The Red and Blacks had actually been awarded the league win before the game started as their opponents were unable to field sufficient front row players but to the visitors' credit they still fulfilled the fixture and made the home side work for everything they got, particularly in the first half.
It took 25 minutes for Alcester to make the breakthrough, with left winger Mark Burrell winning the chase to a trademark kick ahead after the pack had turned over ball at the scrum.
Very unusually it was line-outs that were non-competitive, with both sides having free ball on their throws as the visitors didn’t have a recognised hooker.
Alcester profited from this for their second try as hooker Tommy Wright crashed over from the back of a driving maul to take the half-time score to 10-0 in their favour.
The Red and Blacks made changes at the break with Harry Wylie replacing Alex Chiles on the wing and Ant Cauvin on for veteran Dave Marriott at prop.
The changes did little to disrupt the home side's domination and they increased their lead in the early stages of the second half as Burrell raced in for his second try after a flowing backs move had set him free.
Full-back Tom Burgess converted the extras.
Jack Green, who moved between centre and flank positions throughout the game, was next to score as he crashed through several attempted tackles to touch down under the posts. Burgess again converted.
With line-outs and scrums now both uncompetitive and with the home side in total control, the game started to fizzle out somewhat, but there was still time for Alcester to score two more tries.
Firstly, Jamie Harland reacted quickest to a loose ball to hack ahead before gathering to score under the posts and then substitute wing Wylie scored with the last play of the game. Burgess converted both scores.
Alcester make the short journey to local rivals Woodrush on Saturday.
