Derby travelled to Knowle to meet Silhillians for the first time. Both teams were having difficult seasons, having the same number of points with only Kenilworth below them in the league.
Derby kicked off, as the first rain of the month arrived, to make conditions tricky.
Derby were forced into late changes, with Jake Barker starting and Harry Cook coming onto the bench.
It only took Silhillians 1 minute to open their account with a try out wide. An excellent conversion took the score to 7 – 0.
Derby then exerted some pressure, but were unable to make the territory count, despite Silhillians losing a player to the sin bin.
After 16 minutes, Silhillians scored another converted try, from a Derby scrum.
Further tries followed on 27 and 29 minutes, with 1 being converted.
This left Silhillians 26 – 0 ahead and Derby in deep trouble. McGrath Van Wyk had also departed, injured, by this point.
Derby hit back 3 minutes before the interval. A number of forward drives ended with Nathan Bevan Brown crashing over for his 1st try for the side.
This left Silhillians 26 – 5 up and Derby needing a good start to the 2nd half.
Derby did score first in the 2nd half, but is took 15 minutes to arrive. Another series of forward drives led to a try. This time it was James Godfrey who crossed, also for his 1st try for the side. Lewis Hancock added the conversion to put Derby 14 points behind.
Despite pressing the Silhillians try line on a number of occasions, Derby were unable to convert any pressure into more points, thanks to excellent defence from Silhillians.
2 penalties in the final 8 minutes confirmed victory for Silhillians and disappointment for Derby.
In reality, the game was lost in the first half hour and this result leaves Derby in a relegation spot.
Derby need to pick themselves up quickly, to be ready for the visit of Long Eaton on Thursday night.
Come on Derby!
Report by: R. Bambra