Stockport 53 Derby 14
11/10/25
Derby travelled to Stockport and gave a debut on the wing to Ollie Horton. Angus Wallis also made his 1st appearance, from the bench.
The teams ran out on a beautiful October day, with Joe Acton running out for the 50th time.
Derby kicked off and started the game in confident style. It was all Derby for the opening 10 minutes, but they were unable to turn the pressure into points.
After 11 minutes, the inevitable happened as Stockport swept upfield to score a try.
Stockport were starting to get into their groove and were pinning Derby back in their own 22.
Further Stockport tries followed in the 24th and 28thminute and the 2 conversions put Stockport 19 – 0 ahead.
As the half drew to a close, Derby started to exert some pressure of their own and were awarded a penalty 5 metres from the Stockport try line. Sam Tebbs tapped and fed Nathaniel Bevan Brown. He duly powered his way over to score. Josh Bingham added the conversion.
This left the half time score 19 – 7 in Stockport’s favour.
Derby needed a strong start to the 2nd half, to give themselves a fighting chance.
Unfortunately, 15 minutes into the half, Stockport had scored 3 more tries and added a conversion. At 36 – 7, they were out of sight.
Derby continued to work hard and Angus Wallis was held up over the Stockport line, after 66 minutes.
Injuries and constant tackling caught up with Derby in the final 10 minutes, with Stockport scoring 3 further tries and 1 more conversion.
It was Derby who had the last word however, when Ben Betts crashed over from close range to score his 1st try for the club. Josh Bingham added the conversion and in doing so took his career total to 601 points and move into 10th place on the all time points scorers list.
A tough day for Derby, with a good Stockport team thoroughly deserving victory. Credit to Derby for not letting their heads drop and continuing to look for opportunities.
Next week sees the long trip to Blackburn.
Come on Derby !
R. Bambra
