DERBY couldn’t dent Oxford Harlequins’ perfect record at the top of Regional 1 Midlands but they made sure they had something to show for their efforts at the finish.The home side made it six wins out of six by defeating Derby 37-25 but the visitors kept fighting to the finish and bagged a try bonus point, although they were frustrated
Derby made 3 changes to the starting XV for the visit of second place Stourbridge. Sam Pittman, Jake Roome and James Godfrey came into the side while Jason McGuinnes made his debut from the bench. Ryan Cokayne made his first appearance of the season, also from the bench. Skipper for the day, Lewis Hancock led the team out in light
Injuries are starting to bite for Derby. Jeri Oldfield (making his 50th appearance), Dave Cowell, Josh Ridley and Rhondell Stabana all started as the pack made 4 changes. Jake Roome made his return from the bench, while James Godfrey made his first appearance of the season, also from the bench. It is only fair to point out that Burton had
Callum Jones and Lewis Hancock returned to the starting XV for the visit of Bradstreet. Ethan Pearson made his first appearance of the season, as did Rhodell Stabana, from the bench. Derby also handed debuts to Alex Scullion and Tom Hinchcliffe, both of whom came on in the second half. Derby kicked off, on a warm afternoon and had an
Derby travelled to Finstall Park and made several changes to the side that beat Syston. Josh Harvey, Jake Barker, Kristian Powell and Jack Partinton all came into the starting XV, while Simon Duke made his debut from the bench. Unfortunately, Josh Bingham damaged his hamstring in the warm-up, so Derby had to shuffle the side, with Cam Finlay moving from
Derby welcomed Simon Moon back to the starting XV, after a long injury absence. The rest of the side had a familiar look, with the only newcomer, making his debut from the bench, Kristian Powell. Derby kicked off, as summer finally arrived! It only took 3 minutes for Derby to take the lead. Josh Bingham kicked through and Lewis Hancock
Under lights in front of a sizeable crowd of supporters for both sides, a rematch of the round two group game, which Derby lost by 10 to 7 points. Derby got through by being the best of the losing sides and were determined to make amends. It was a classic clash with the Visitors fielding a bigger and more experienced
Derby took on Macclesfield in the Papa John’s Cup with a place in the semi-final at stake. This was the final match in the 4-team pool and previous results meant that this was effectively a quarter-final. Derby welcomed Jack Dawson and Will Town to the starting XV, while Ryan Milton came off the bench to make his 50th appearance. Derby
In another high scoring game, it was ended by the golden boot kicker, Josh Bingham, with just minutes left on the clock. It was not an easy kick but just got the distance before bouncing over the crossbar to secure that vital one point victory. It was a story of two halves as the much-fancied Sandal moved the ball quickly
Derby travelled to Grove Park to play the first of three pool matches in The Papa John’s Regional Plate. Manchester had finished 8th in Regional 1 North West; the same level of rugby as Derby, who had finished 8th in Regional 1 Midlands, so a good contest was expected. Derby kicked off and were soon on the attack. They opened
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