Droitwich 8 - Silhillians 7

Saturday 8th March 2008

Droitwich were, again, less than convincing on Saturday and had to rely on a late try by prop forward James Shewell to seal the victory. The victory sees the Spa side now guaranteed to finish in second place in Midlands Division 3 West (South), which will see them in a play off for promotion.

Playing into the strong gale in the first period, Droitwich got their tactics right, keeping the ball in the forwards, with running the clock down more of a priority than playing attacking rugby. Second row forward Matt Jupp was particularly effective as was veteran Nick Godfrey.

Droitwich did themselves no favours with the penalty count, giving away a string of infringements. Fortunately for the home side the visitors’ kicker was unsuccessful with three relatively easy penalty attempts. Towards the end of the half more penalties allowed Silhillians to pressure the Droitwich line and go over for a try.

With the half time score at 7 nil the home side now had the wind on their backs and started the half confident of rapidly wiping out the arrears, although it must be said they never got out of second gear and a Duncan Hughes penalty was all they had to show as the game meandered. Some good running by Steve Poke and Craig Mortlemans gave Spa some momentum, but time and time again the passing was lazy and ineffective.

With time rapidly running out a good run by Phil Horton found Ross Coombes in support to pressure the visitors’ line. Several times Sils infringed and Droitwich opted to take a lineout to set up attacking positions. Numerous times the forwards tried to breech the defence but the visitors’ tackling was first rate, often driving Droitwich back in the tackle. After Dean Goddard had gone close Shewell picked the ball up and went for the line using his bulk to muscle over. Hughes was unsuccessful with the conversion, but yet again Droitwich had just done enough to hang onto victory.

Droitwich now turn their attentions to the North Midlands Shield, taking on Ledbury on Friday night at the Memorial Ground. Also they will have the end of season play off in their mind which would, if successful, take them into Midlands Division 2 West—the highest level the club have ever played at. Sean Walker commented after the game, “We never really got going today, but a win is a win. We now have the opportunity to reach Division 2—a major milestone for the club.”

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