Redditch A 0 - Droitwich 12

Saturday, 19th November, 2005

Two second-half tries by Droitwich were enough to decide the outcome of a desperately poor game of rugby.

This friendly fixture should have provided Droitwich with a useful workout before next week’s important cup clash with Brackley. However, Droitwich failed to lift themselves beyond the level of a decidedly limited Redditch side. The first-half was characterised by poor handling and a lack of physical commitment in the ruck and maul. Consequently both sides failed to score a single point in the first forty minutes.

An ankle injury suffered by hooker Ben Thomas brought about some positional changes for Droitwich at half-time. Dean Goddard switched from inside centre to his preferred position at hooker, with Will Bolton moving from the wing to replace him. Pete Denby came off the subs bench to take up the right wing position.

Droitwich looked a little more purposeful at the beginning of the second-half with flanker James Davis to the fore. This improved attitude bore fruit after five minutes when decent support play saw Denby go over in the corner for a try. Matt Blackmore failed to convert a difficult kick.

Droitwich ought to have imposed themselves on Redditch at this point in the game, but handling errors and lack of aggression at the breakdown crept back in to Droitwich’s play. However, Redditch’s lack of any strong ball carriers meant that they failed to take advantage of the numerous opportunities presented to them.

The result was effectively decided when Bolton scored a coolly taken try under the posts following some good approach work by Craig Goode and Denby. Blackmore added the simple conversion to take the score to 12-- 0.

Saturday’s team:

  1. Greg Garfield
  2. Ben Thomas
  3. Matt Jupp
  4. Paul Sweeney
  5. Craig Goode
  6. Phil Horton
  7. James Davis
  8. Jon Andrews
  9. Steven Poke
  10. Matt Blackmore
  11. Will Bolton
  12. Dean Goddard
  13. Ben Cottrell (Captain)
  14. Simon Pearce
  15. Sean Walker

Substitutes: Pete Denby.

No photos this week-- which is probably just as well.

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