Derby travelled to Kenilworth, looking to build on their impressive win against Stourbridge, but still occupying 11th place in the table. One place below them, Kenilworth had lost all four games.
Derby kicked off on a dry day, after all the morning rain. Josh Tizard played the first half at scrum half, while Jake Roome replaced him at half time; both making their first appearance of the season. Henry Gaunt made his debut from the bench.
Derby were on the attack after 6 minutes, when a Kenilworth player was sent to the sin bin. Derby took advantage immediately when Sam Tebbs picked up from from the base of the resulting scrum and powered over the try line. Josh Bingham converted.
Kenilworth hit back to back with 2 tries in the next 14 minutes, with 2 line-out drives to touch down. 1 was converted, to put Kenilworth 12 – 7 up.
8 minutes before the break, Kenilworth looked certain to score when they intercepted a pass, but Cam Finlay chased back and managed to dislodge the ball and Derby survived.
On the stroke of halftime, Will Town scorched down the line to score and level the scores.
Kenilworth made an excellent start to the 2nd half, with 2 tries in the 1st 6 minutes. 1 conversion put them 12 points clear.
Things looked bleak for Derby, but they showed superb determination to hit back after 52 minutes. A clever kick from Josh Bingham allowed Cam Finlay to show his pace and touch down.
7 minutes later, Sam Tebbs burst from a maul and scored his 2nd try of the day. Josh Bingham converted both, to put Derby 2 points up.
After 67 minutes, Derby lost Tom Pickering to the sin bin and Kenilworth kicked the resulting penalty to retake the lead by 1 point.
6 minutes remained when Kenilworth had a player sent to the sin bin for a high tackle. Josh Bingham took the penalty on from the touchline and drilled it between the posts to give Derby a 2-point lead.
Derby kept possession well to run the clock down and Kenilworth started leaking penalties in desperation.
As the game entered injury time, Josh Bingham had another kick at goal. The ball struck the post and Cam Finlay reacted quickest to gather the ball and score.
The final whistle went and Derby had a splendid victory showing great team spirit and belief to claim the win.
Long Eaton come to Haslams on Friday night for Derby’s next game.
Come on Derby!
Report by: R. Bambra