Derby U16s vs Tupton
We left Derby on a wonderfully sunny Sunday morning for the short trip up to Tupton, our first away game of the season. Going into the game with 3 wins from 3, we were excited to see what we would find. Finding the club was the challenge number one; it is the best-hidden club in Derbyshire (note to Tupton; signs have more than just cosmetic value).
We arrived to the glorious smells of breakfast from the kitchen, making it hard to maintain pre-match focus (is that a ploy?). On a pitch best envisaged as an upside-down saucer propped up by a plain digestive biscuit, Tupton started the first half playing with the slopes. It was a strong and high-energy start by both teams and Tupton pinned us back into our 22. After some very strong defence by the whole Derby team, Tupton used the early pressure to make and convert a first try. Derby came back hard with a combination of strong forward work, some wonderful use of straight line running and hand-to-hand passing by the backs to work their way up the hill, making good yards. The hard work culminated with our forwards making a return try.
We were lucky enough to have the expertise of an NLD referee, giving us excellent preparation for our first big NLD match of the season next week. He had definitely read the rule book and it reminded our whole team that giving away a few cheap penalties can give away needless points and all credit to Tupton for taking advantage of this. The first-half intensity continued all around with points exchanging back and forth, but Derby sneaked ahead to a half-time lead of 17-20.
Derby started the second half with the slopes, but we initially lost some of our intensity. The strong team spirit they are developing though came to the fore and they re-focussed and started to drive home their advantage by executing their game plan. We pushed on with some strong and well-supported breaks and big tackles by the forwards, some try-saving tackles, straight line runs and use of the width of the pitch, by our backs. The game ended 27-37 making it a good end to a wonderful morning.
All of the Tupton and Derby players played a great game in a manner we would all want rugby to be played, they were a credit to their clubs. It was a splendid morning, no matter which side you were supporting. Tupton were fantastic hosts as a team and as a club and we very much look forward to hosting them at Derby later in the future. We wish them well in their season and can say, without doubt, it is a club well-worth finding!
Derby U15s vs Tupton
IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY, THE SUN IS SHINING AND YOU’RE OUT WITH YOUR MATES PLAYING RUGBY, GO OUT THERE AND HAVE SOME FUN…
The pitch was soft, the sun was out, lots of smiles from both teams as they warmed up. Tupton being a little short of players on the day, allowed Derby to field an additional 3 players to Tupton for a 13 a-side game during the first 2 quarters and lending 5 players for the second 2 quarters for a 15 a-side game.
Having not competed together for several years, both teams were looking forward to this match and after a deadlock for the first 7mins, Tupton broke the silence and opened their account depositing the ball over the line, then through the sticks. 7-0 Tupton. During the first 2 quarters, Derby had to demonstrate strong discipline to swing the score line back to Derby’s favour. Derby didn’t disappoint and stepped up to the plate, controlling the play when in attack and delivering strong line speed in defence, which brought Derby back into the game. During the first few quarters, Derby’s teamwork delivered tries to Kaiden Webb, Jimmy, Ben Howell, and Ben Eastern with Thomas Bull securing some great conversions. During the later quarters, Tupton showed great heads-up rugby, targeted a gap in the Derby defence and brought another 5 points their way, but it was too little too late, Derby now putting more tries on the board, coming from Kaiden Webb, Jimmy and Thomas Bull. Another solid kicking game from Thomas Bull with some difficult kicks from the sidelines.
The squad once again showed that playing as a team and working hard to support one another, is a compelling force to be reckoned with.
• Back player of the day – Jimmy (debut, first-ever club rugby game, securing 2 tries)
• Forward player of the day – Alex Carpenter, brave tackling against strong Tupton forwards
• Captain on the day – Barney Brown
A special thanks to Tupton for hosting Derby, Tupton have a great bunch of lads that showed flawless rugby values. Great fun in the clubhouse afterwards. Would highly recommend all teams to pay Tupton a visit, if not played there before. Truly wonderful hosts, superb catering, coaches and staff were very accommodating, Food for all, including coaches, served with a smile! It will be Derby’s pleasure to host Tupton later in the season. We wish Tupton the very best of luck in their upcoming NLD game. We will all be cheering you on.
Final score 12- 50
Derby U14s vs Ashfield
This Sunday we were away at Ashfield. Following the heavy defeat last week, the coaches had done a fantastic job in mid-week training with the boys on their defensive desire and Tempo.
Following a rousing pre-kick off speech from captain Ben Saunders, the boys were really fired up and made every effort to score first, which I’m delighted to say they did, using space out wide for Josh to go over. This got the boys eager for another quick score and excellent play from both the forwards in the scrum and breakdown and the backs connecting well across the pitch meant we were 6 tries up at halftime.
The substitutes brought on some fresh legs eager to score and they blended in well. The boys did really well in the tackle and turning over the ball in several key areas of the pitch which eventually led to further tries.
Some great support running and teamwork today was a key enabler for several of our tries. In the third quarter, we had a great scrum turnover and pre-planned kick and chase that enabled a really good try under the posts. Ashfield deservedly scored too after a particularly strong individual run from their number 8. Ashfield threw everything at us in the final quarter with a really strong performance from Derby to hold them out.
So many players probably had their best game of rugby today since pulling on a Derby shirt, to name a few; Albert, Karun, Reuben and Luke.
Tries today were scored by George C, Adam, Josh, George D, Karun and Lewis with conversions from Henry, Ben S and Lewis.
The boys played as a real team today with passion and belief and deserved the win with the Final score Ashfield 10-50 Derby.
Thank you to Ashfield for their hospitality and well done to both teams for playing the game with a high degree of sportsmanship and respect.
