Droitwich 39 - Shipston On Stour 0

Saturday 3rd December 2005

Droitwich produced one of their best performances of the season to comprehensively defeat Shipston by 39 points to nil.

Shipston chose to play with the wind in the first half and briefly looked threatening as they attempted to get the ball out wide. Resolute defence from Droitwich, including a pair of excellent cover tackles from wing Simon Pearce, kept Shipston at bay.

The first half was largely a stalemate before Ben Cottrell spotted space on the blind side and slipped a pass out to wing Leon Hopkins. Hopkins still had plenty of work to do, but his acceleration took him away from the Shipston defence and he scored the opening try. Matt Blackmore added the tricky conversion to give Droitwich a 7—0 lead at half-time.

The second half was all one way traffic as Droitwich, with the wind on their backs, dominated Shipston. The introduction of Jimmy Richardson gave the home pack more dynamism, with Phil Horton and James Davis displaying excellent all round skills. It was Davis who broke from a maul to score under the posts; Blackmore added the conversion. Blackmore followed this up with a penalty kick to extend Droitwich’s lead to 17 points to nil.

Droitwich were now all over Shipston like a cheap suit and began to turn on the style. Hooker Andrew Manns, an increasingly influential figure in the loose, finished off a fine Droitwich attack that went through six phases. Once again Blackmore added the conversion. Blackmore then got in on the act himself with a cheeky score in the corner.

Shipston deserve credit for not allowing their heads to drop and they continued to work hard despite the match being beyond them. For ten minutes they repelled Droitwich attacks before conceding a penalty in range of Blackmore’s boot. The Spa fly-half duly converted to take the score to 32—0.

Not long after, Hopkins was on hand to add his second try of the match—and his tenth of the season thus far. After fine approach work by Dean Goddard and wing Simon Pearce, Hopkins bisected the Shipston defence before powering away to score under the posts. Blackmore added the simple conversion to take his individual tally for the game to 19 points.

The all round play of Droitwich in the second period was the best they have produced this season, with both backs and forwards shining. Droitwich have now successfully defended their try line for three consecutve games. They will be hoping to do the same next week in a tough away match at mid-table Cleobury Mortimer, before taking on Aldwinians in the fifth round of the Junior Vase.

Other results and League Table.

Droitwich 2nd XV also celebrated an excellent home victory on Saturday over local rivals Pershore. Not only was the match part of the Merit Table competition, but Pershore also featured a number of their 1st team players. Well done to captain Craig Burgess and his team.

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