KIDDERMINSTER Carolians bounced back to winning ways with a 31-10 victory over Barkers' Butts last Saturday.

KC's defence was tested in the early exchanges, as the visitors piled on pressure and held territorial advantage for the first 10 minutes.

KC had a let off when the opposition missed a very kickable penalty from in front of the posts. Almost the first KC move into the Barkers' Butts half resulted in a penalty. From a quick tap, inter-passing by the forwards fed Russ Gauden to score a try with Freddie Morgan converting.

Butts reduced the advantage with a penalty but the home side answered quickly with another try as Freddie Morgan freed brother Arthur. Freddie then converted the extras to make it 14-3.

Just before the end of the first half things turned ugly as a Barkers' Butts player took exception to a tackle from fullback Andy McLellan and lashed out with an unprovoked punch which led to a fracas on the KC's 22. The referee brandished red cards for each side, the Barkers' Butts hooker for punching and the KC player for retaliation.

The second half started with KC having more control in the scrum. Both sides exchanged tries, Barkers' converting theirs, as the score moved to 19-10.

KC increased their lead through another dominant drive allowing the powerful Jess Smith, with a 40 metre sprint, to score another fine individual try for the bonus point despite the conversion missing.

The home side were now in control and sealed the win with a further try from a good handling move. The ball was taken on by Arthur Morgan who, when tackled, kept the ball alive by passing to Ryan Tiene for him to score. The conversion by Freddie Morgan was successful making the final score 31-10.

With the game now out of reach, Barkers' Butts' number 7 showed the ugly side of the game once more with a blatant punch to the face of Chris Pinner in front of the referee.

The referee only produced a yellow card to reduce the opposition to 13 men for the final six minutes of play. Pinner needed to leave the field with a broken nose.

Despite the unsavoury end to the contest, KCs picked up another good win to remain third in Midlands Two West (South).

They now turn their attention to Saturday's cup clash at home to Ludlow.