The incessant rain forced Derby to play their home game at Derby University, for the 2nd time this season!
Derby kicked off, but it was Burton who had the early pressure, culminating in a try for Davies, This was followed by an excellent conversion from Phillips to put Burton 7 points ahead.
After 15 minutes, Derby struck back when a long pass released Will Town to touch down. Josh Bingham’s conversion tied the scores.
The rest of the half saw both sides probing for opportunities, Derby certainly looked at their most dangerous when they kept the ball in hand.
Derby scored next, after 35 minutes, when Will Town picked off a Burton pass. He set off from halfway and nobody was catching him as he streaked away to score his 14th try of the season. Josh Bingham added the conversion and Derby went into the halftime break 14 – 7 ahead.
The 2nd half started badly for Derby with 2 Burton tries in the opening 7 minutes. Meads was the first to cross before the pack drove Collingwood over. Phillips converted the later try, to put Burton 19 – 14 up.
Derby struck back almost immediately when a clever interplay between Lewis Hancock and Fred Chell set Jeri Oldfield free to score under the posts. Josh Bingham converted and in doing so brought up his 500th point for the team!
The game was in the balance, with both sides having spells of pressure, but with 15 minutes left, Burton retook the lead. Bunting crossed for the try and Phillips again converted. This left the score 26 – 21 to Burton.
Time was starting to run out for Derby. 5 minutes remained when they kicked a penalty to the corner. They were unable to create the try they needed but Burton infringed again and this time Josh Bingham kicked the penalty to narrow the gap to 2 points.
Derby took the kickoff and surged forward again. Josh Bingham kicked a superb penalty right into the corner. The lineout was won and the ball presented to Josh Bingham who took aim and let fly. The ball sailed between the posts to put Dereby 1 point ahead as the game entered injury time.
Derby saw the game out with few alarms to claim victory in what was a superb game of rugby. Special mention must go to Derby’s defence; Burton were kept out on a number of occasions when they looked certain to score.
This was Derby’s 3rd victory over Burton in 2 seasons. The combined victory margin ? 4 points! It just shows how closely matched the teams are!
Come on Derby!
Report by: R. Bambra
Photos by: Shaun Hardwick, full gallery here
