U16s – Derby vs Uttoxeter
For the first match of the new year, Derby under 16’s travelled to Uttoxeter.
Derby were a dominant force throughout the match with some great contested scrums and our first real test of contested line outs which showed that all the lads hard work paid off. Uttoxeter have a great bunch of lads and showed excellent resilience and sportsmanship throughout. The final score was 71-3 to Derby.
Derby, unfortunately, saw one of their wingers down with a potentially torn hamstring, we wish him a speedy recovery.
U15s – Derby vs Matlock
The u15s took on Matlock on the AGP on Sunday, the only home game of the weekend for the junior section.
There was some trepidation ahead of the match with long memories of some of the lads recalling difficult one-sided results but this time they had nothing to fear and they applied themselves to the task admirably.
After a feisty warm-up, the lads took the pitch and laid down some great markers. A couple of crunching tackles really boosted belief.
The Derby pack scrummaged hard and challenged the Matlock forwards all day, but against the run of play the opposition scored. Deny responded very strongly and replied very soon afterwards with a converted try through some solid close-quarter support running and the pack crashing over to score. 7-5 to Derby. Despite this, Matlock closed the half with 2 more tries, both through the same player stretching his legs around a disjointed Derby defence. Matlock led 15-7.
The half team talk seemed to spur the lads on again and they quickly scored at the start of the second half. With the conversion added it was 14-15 and all to play for.
Frustratingly that was how the match finished. There was a great effort in attack and defence in the second half, but neither side could make it count. A huge last-ditch tackle at the death by Derby saved a certain score but there was no time to reply at the other end.
It was a highly entertaining match with both sides playing hard and fair rugby. The Derby squad rotated and adapted throughout, and add some strong debuts to that, the lads must hold their heads high. Well done lads, so much to build on from here!!