Derby U15s vs Ashby under the Friday Night Lights
Derby travelled to Ashby for a Friday evening game in glorious sunshine expecting a tough encounter and we weren’t disappointed! Ashby had been flying high all season but Derby belied their underdog status by camping in Ashby’s 22 for the first 20 Mins; with only a few handling errors preventing a score. Ashby kicked over the top cleverly and spun it wide on their visits to Derby’s half; making it count to score 3 tries in quick succession. Derby kept hitting runners back in the tackle and defended amazingly well in the face of a well-drilled attack. Unfortunately, Jake our number 8 got binned for 3 hard but borderline high hits in a row and Ashby made the extra man count to score on the stroke of halftime.
Derby came out firing in the second half and went toe to toe with Ashby for the whole duration. They kept putting in massive hits and spinning it wide but couldn’t quite get over the line. Ashby scored another quick breakaway but Derby fired back to draw the half as Kaiden skipped past a few would-be tacklers to get over the try line. The lads didn’t want the game to end but alas the ref blew after our try; bringing a great game of rugby to a close. The scoreline was not a reflection of a very even game.
The Derby lads put in their best defensive performance all season and every one of them can be proud of their efforts. Despite his yellow card, Jake was our player of the match as he was everywhere on the pitch; picking up from 8, smashing into tacklers from open play and shaving them back in the tackle.
Special mention Charles Binns to your under 14s lads who played for us today. All 4 of them were absolutely amazing for us today and showcased a huge amount of bravery & skill. In particular, I thought Ethan was outstanding at flanker but they all have a bright future in the game.
That’s it for the U15’s this season and the lads have all put it in this season and as a coaching group, we look forward to helping them carry it next season!