Droitwich 16 - Berkswell & Balsall 0

Sunday, 7th January, 2007

Droitwich consolidated their position at the top of Midlands Div 4 West (South) with a defeat of second place Berkswell at the Glyn Mitchell Memorial Ground on Saturday.

The heavy rain made handling difficult and the playing surface very slippery, but it was Droitwich who started the brighter, with fly half Duncan Hughes kicking intelligently to set up attacking options.

The home side established camp in the visitors ‘22, but could not force their way over the line. Hughes hit the post with two tricky penalty efforts, before strong work by Matt Jupp gave Hughes a third attempt which he duly converted.

Droitwich again pressurised Berkswell, this time thanks to a strong run from captain Jim Richardson, who found Ben Cottrell in support, only to be hauled down metres short of the line.

Excellent loose play by veteran prop forward Greg Garfield forced Berkswell to kill the ball and concede a penalty. Hughes converted to double the lead.

In the final moments of the half Droitwich mounted more pressure with both Danny Protherough and Nick Godfrey going close, but the visitors defence was solid. At the half-time interval Droitwich led 6 points to nil, although the amount of pressure they enjoyed should have seen a greater return.

The weather conditions improved in the second period and Berkswell began to mount serious attacks of their own, pressurising the home line with a series of lineout catch and drives. Fine defence, notably from Phil Horton and Steve Poke, kept the Spa lead intact.

Intelligent kicking from Sean Walker advanced Droitwich up the field to set up a series of attacking scrums. A strong surge from Horton was held up metres short for second row Paul Sweeney to power over to increase the lead.

Droitwich continued to attack. Leon Hopkins hacked the ball up field and the tireless Godfrey surged over to put the result beyond doubt.

This had been a fine display by Droitwich which keeps them firmly at the top of the table. The work rate of the forwards was outstanding.

After the game player/coach Duncan Hughes was clearly delighted adding, “the conditions were very difficult today, but we managed to play some excellent rugby, with the whole team being outstanding. The destiny of the league title is now in our hands.”

Section Navigation