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Aldwinians 33 - Droitwich 19

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Droitwich crashed out of the Powergen Junior Vase on Saturday when they went down 33 points to 19 at Manchester-based Aldwinians.

The home side were well drilled and workmanlike and immediately put pressure on the Droitwich line. Committed defence by Droitwich kept the Aldwinians forwards at bay. Eventually, though, the pressure told and Droitwich conceded their first penalty which was comfortably in range of the opposition’s fly-half.

Droitwich immediately replied with a penalty of their own from the boot of Matt Blackmore. A further penalty was scored by each side before the half-hour mark and, although Aldwinians had the better of both territory and possession, Droitwich were competing hard. Flanker James Davis deserves particular recognition for making some thunderous tackles, including one beauty on the Aldwinians’ counter-attacking fullback that left him and many spectators stunned.

However, Davis’s aggressive defence was not matched by that of the Droitwich three-quarters. In a crucial lapse as half-time approached, the Aldwinians’ outside-centre burst through a gap in the Droitwich back line, brushed off fullback Chris Hooper and scored the opening try of the match. The Aldwinians’ No.10 converted to bring the score to 13 – 6. Droitwich soon found themselves down to fourteen men as Phil Horton was sent to the sin-bin.

Half-time brought with it substitutions for Pete Murphy and Andrew Manns who went off for Ian Kilner and Ben Thomas respectively.

Droitwich upped their work rate in the second period. A powerful maul took them from the half-way line into the Aldwinians’ twenty-two. Steven Poke darted round the blindside and slipped the pass to Will Bolton. Bolton still had plenty of work to do but managed to shrug off the cover defence and stretch out an arm to score the try. Blackmore was unable to convert, but, nonetheless, Droitwich were back in the match.

Unfortunately, Droitwich struggled to maintain their composure and self-discipline. Horton returned from the sin-bin only to be quickly replaced there by prop Matt Jupp.

Aldwinians took advantage of their extra man to extend their lead over Droitwich. They scored two further tries in the match as the visitors scrambled to patch the holes in their defence.

The visitors pulled a score back when skipper Nick Godfrey touched down after a line out catch and drive, but ultimately the deficit couldn’t be closed. Dean Goddard picked up an injury which led to his withdrawal and a move to uncontested scrums.

The referee seemed to get more whistle happy as the game went on as four further players, two from each side, were sent to the sin bin. Jupp picked up his second yellow, and a mandatory red, to leave Droitwich with only fourteen men at the final whistle.

Droitwich only have themselves to blame for giving away a string of penalties, making it very difficult to get any continuity into their play, and they will see their exit from the competition as down to indiscipline and missed opportunities.

Photos are now available.

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