What a change, What a game and the Man-of-the-Match award goes to Team Derby. All played their part but the ball carrying of Sam Tebbs and Jake Barker put Derby on the front foot. Young Tom Pickering showed he is developing in confidence and ability.
Charlie Barker led his team out in the sunshine to a loud cheer from a good crowd of Derby supporters to face the league leaders, Stourbridge. All the players walked behind him with an obvious sense of intent and a mindset of determination. Ball retention, close support play, resolute tackling and hard work at the breakdown were the key ingredients of this Derby performance.
From the kick-off by Josh Bingham, the forwards chased and quickly won the ball. That possession was something they maintained until the visitors threatened the Derby line. From the breakdown, Jake Barker broke free with the ball and made fifty metres before being tackled. Mc Grath Van Wyk was then given a Yellow Card for a try-saving tackle. Ten minutes later, after pressure by the forwards, the referee awarded Derby a long-range penalty duly converted by Lewis Hancock. Derby’s defensive play was a revelation and key to containing the fast-moving visitors. After a short kicking exchange between fullbacks, the ball was quickly moved up field and the Derby pack threatened the Stourbridge line. Joe Acton spotted a gap and his quick reaction brought him an important try. A crunching tackle brought Derby a penalty, once again converted by Lewis Hancock to give Derby a lead of 11 points to Nil at the break. Spectators were looking at the scoreboard in disbelief and asked, “Could Derby hang on?”
At the interval, Josh Godfry replaced the injured Sam Pitman. After two minutes, it was Stourbridge who swarmed all over Derby for centre, Leo Gilliland, to touch down under the posts. Michael Heaney added the conversion to narrow the score to four points. Unshaken, Derby surged down field and the forwards pressed hard, but it was Josh Bingham who dived low and hard to score an unconverted try. Minutes later, Jack Bates was just beaten by the bounce of the ball over the Stourbridge try line. In full flow, McGrath Van Wyk chipped the ball ahead and it was Lewis Hancock who picked it up and sprinted over the line for an unconverted try in the corner. Only three minutes later, he kicked another penalty to increase the lead to 17 points. Stourbridge responded with some determined runs but Derby’s hard tackling and competing for the ball at breakdowns kept them at bay. That is until a forward drive allowed No. 8, Drew Harper to score. Two minutes later, Stourbridge pushed for the line and scrum-half, Heaney, dropped on the ball just over the Derby line. He converted both tries to reduce the lead to just two points. Though tired, Derby mustered strength from somewhere and tackled the Visitors to a standstill. Josh Bingham kicked the ball to touch from a penalty and the referee blew the final whistle.
This was as enjoyable as it was unexpected. Yes, Stourbridge had some replacements playing due to injuries, but Derby knows all about that.
Next week Derby travel to Kenilworth. Let’s hope they have turned a corner.
Report by: Gerry Sherry