Droitwich U15’s 5 - Worcester U15’s 32

Sunday 30th March 2008

Droitwich travelled to Worcester for this match, with an Easter holiday ravaged team, but determined to put in a performance worthy of the team shirt.

From the off Worcester tried to exert home field advantage pressurising Droitwich into delivering a strong defensive formation. The Droitwich pack consistently held its own in the early encounters, not allowing Worcester to gain any ground from their applied pressure.

Droitwich then applied some attacking pressure of their own after Oliver Swift positionally kicked Droitwich into the Worcester half of the field, where the Droitwich pack consistently gained the upper hand over Worcester’s forward line. Unfortunately Worcester took advantage of a Droitwich error to sprint down the pitch to score in the corner, hotly pursued by the Droitwich backs.

From the restart Worcester pressed the Droitwich line to increase their advantage, moving the ball around, attempting to spread the Droitwich forwards and backs to create holes to exploit the Droitwich defence. Worcester finally made the pressure tell with another try in the corner.

As the half progressed the Droitwich pack continued to overpower Worcester in scrimmaging and power plays, but were not able to turn their possession into points. Worcester continued to probe Droitwich and were finally rewarded in the last play of the half, again diving over in the corner for their third try of the half which was converted. The half finished Droitwich 0 - Worcester 17.

The second half started much the same as the first finished with the Droitwich pack dominating the forward play, forcing the Worcester pack into errors and scrappy play. It was only when Droitwich allowed Worcester to play the ball to the backs did they show any penetration of the Droitwich line.

In an attempt to change the pattern of the forward play Worcester started changing their forwards in an attempt to find a winning forward combination, but the Droitwich pack held firm. In these early exchanges Droitwich looked to be gaining the upper hand but a quick breakaway after a lineout allowed the Worcester backs to pass the ball and successfully convert their possession into a try in the corner.

Worcester finally realised that trying to drive the Droitwich pack out of the game was not the way forward and proceeded to push the ball wide, allowing the backs to attack from both sides of the forwards when possible. Utilising these tactics Worcester scored their second try of the half scrambling over in the corner.

From the kick-off Droitwich set out determined to place a score on the board themselves and were rewarded after some outstanding committed forward play and very quick ball, with Luke Topping crashing over the try line taking two Worcester players with him to open the scoring for Droitwich.

As the half continued both teams showed considerable commitment to playing expansive rugby, with attacking and resolute defence whenever it was required. The Droitwich pack maintained its dominance over a very good Worcester forward line and both sets of backs showed that they could pass the ball and commit players to gain ground and position. In the final seconds of the game Worcester backs dived in for the final try of the game - again in the corner.

The final score was Droitwich 5 - Worcester 32.

Coach’s special mentions: The final score didn’t reflect the commitment and tenacity shown by the Droitwich players and on another day the score could have been completely different. Special mentions are warranted for Luke Topping who played with a commitment and determination which could have only been rewarded with the try he got; to Craig Browne for some powerful scrimmaging; and Andy Geoghegan for a very good performance in a starting role.

Man of the Match was James Leatherland (crazy) for an outstanding display at flanker. Well done.

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