Kings Norton 18, Redditch 10

KINGS Norton survived a second half scare to claim local bragging rights and record a derby victory over Redditch in the Midlands Division Four West (South).

After a dour first half in Hopwood, the match came to life with 25 of the 28 points scored in the second period.

The hosts were unable to pull ahead as the spirited Kingfishers battled to keep themselves in the game.

Kings went into half-time trailing 3-0 thanks to Shane Rees’ penalty.

But the second half was a far more entertaining affair as the players began to move the ball wide when the opportunity came.

Rees tucked away a second penalty and piled the pressure on Redditch.

That eventually paid off when Sam Back crashed through to touch down but Rees narrowly missed the conversion.

Spurred on from this setback, Redditch came into their own with some good running from defence, led Craig Martin scoring a try.

They closed the gap on Kings Norton to a point when James Mills touched down and set up a grandstand finish.

Kings come back strongly and Alex Stylianou collected a pass to crash through a bunch of players to touch down close to the posts, which Reeds converted.

Rees converted this to finish the scoring with Kings gaining a hard-fought victory.

Kings travel to Coventry to take on Stoke Old Boys on Saturday, while Redditch are at home to Manor Park this weekend (2.15pm ko).

Norton’s seconds went down 36-24 to Bournville.

One highlight for Kings was Ellis Wilkes scoring his first senior try.