Droitwich 28 - Silhillians 17

Saturday 20th September 2008

Droitwich got their league season up and running on Saturday with a win at the Memorial Ground thanks to 18 points from the excellent Matt Blackmore.

In superb conditions Droitwich were the team to get up and running first. Fine attacking forward play, led by the ageless Nick Godfrey, gave Blackmore the opportunity to slot two penalties. Shortly after the ever alert Steve Poke chipped forward for Blackmore to gather and race clear to score under the posts.

More good work by the home pack, in which James Protherough and skipper Dean Goddard were first class, saw Droitwich go close. But it took a moment of breathtaking excellence from Number 8 Phil Horton to extend the lead. He gathered deep in his own ’22 to race the length of the pitch to score, showing an extraordinary turn of pace to leave the defence clutching at thin air. Blackmore, inevitably, converted. This gave Droitwich a 25 points to three advantage at the interval.

The second half saw Silhillians come to life and produce some fine running rugby of their own. The referee awarded a penalty try to Silhillians as Droitwich killed the ball on their own line.

More strong running by Craig Mortlemans saw Poke make good ground to feed Sean Walker to chip ahead, gather and score. Sils came back again to score, but Droitwich had enough in the tank to keep them at bay and secure a fine victory.

A clearly delighted Blackmore added after the game, “Last week was a huge disappointment, but we have worked hard all week and deserved the spoils today. This will, hopefully, kick start our season.”

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