Derby second as tries flow again
DERBY are up to second in Midlands One East after consecutive home wins.
And their 40-17 victory against Oadby Wyggestonians at Haslams Lane extends their winning run to four games.
They are also scoring plenty of tries, adding five more plus a penalty try against Wyggestonians.
“It was a great result and it keeps us moving up the table,” said Derby head coach Mark Bradley.
“Our fitness is very good and we finished well. They perhaps ran out of ideas and made some mistakes which we capitalised on to score some good tries.
“At the moment we are scoring four or five tries every game which shows that we are trying to move the ball around.
“It’s good, attractive rugby to watch.”
The win came after Derby had to make a late switch, with fly-half Josh Bingham unavailable, so winger Lewis Hancock had to take over at 10.
“It shows our strength of depth that we can put players into different positions and still perform well,” Bradley added.
As expected, the visitors were a bigger side and they dominated the first 15 minutes, number eight Arthur Redfern scoring an unconverted try.
But Derby found their feet and a forward drive was pulled down just short of the line, leading to a penalty try for the home side as Wyggestonians’ Michael Wright was sent to the sin bin.
That was the lift Derby needed and 10 minutes later captain Andy Brown broke from deep to give winger Ryan Milton an opening he exploited with great speed for a try converted by Hancock.
Two minutes later, Hancock took a pass from Will Town to score and then convert his own try.
Once again the visitors put Derby under pressure in the scrums to win possession but an individual try by Brown delivered the try bonus point and a 21-point lead at the interval.
Wyggestonians scored their second unconverted try early in the second half but Sam Tebbs scored a great try when he broke away for a 60 metre run to the line, with Hancock kicking the extras.
Although the visitors hit back with a converted try, Derby capped the win when Tebbs went over for his second converted score.