Hancock at the double as Derby tame Lions on road
DERBY are back up to second in Midlands One East after maintaining their 100 per cent away record this season.
Lewis Hancock scored two tries as Derby built a 17-0 half-time lead against Peterborough Lions and the bonus point try was in the bag seven minutes into the second half when Judah Simpson touched down.
The Lions didn’t score until the closing stages, by which point Derby led 29-0. They went over for a converted try but the end of the game was overshadowed by a serious injury for the home side, with an ambulance arriving after a player suffered a bad leg break.
Derby also had injury issues to deal with as Ethan Pearson suffered a groin injury in the warm-up and had to be replaced in the first half, while Will Town headed for hospital before half-time.
“Will dislocated his shoulder,” said Derby head coach Mark Bradley.
“It went back in very well, I’ve heard, so they reckon he could be back in two or three weeks. The Christmas break that’s around the corner now has come at the right time and he should be back soon after.
“It’s good that we’ll go into the Christmas break with our away record intact.
“We were a bit slow to start but after the first 10 minutes we took control.
“They were very direct but our defense was very good, we tackled very low, stopping them at source.
“Then we kept the ball and maintained the width to score some good tries.”
Hancock is one of Derby leading scorers this season, adding two conversions to his tries in this game.
He opened the scoring for the visitors in the 19th minute before Derby had to shuffle their team as Pearson was unable to continue and Town left the game. Simpson and Louis
McGuckian went on, the latter scoring Derby’s second try, which was converted, in the 23rd minute.
Eight minutes before the break Hancock went over again for his sixth try of the season and early in the second half Sam Tebbs and Josh
Tizard combined at the base of the scrum to set up Simpson for his score, as he forced his way over after arriving off the wing at pace. Hancock converted.
Jake Barker scored his third try of the season with three minutes remaining before the Lions completed the scoring.
“Lewis is playing really well,” Bradley added.
“He has moved around the team a little bit this year to cover injuries. He normally plays on the wing but has been playing at 10 and at centre, too. And he has just excelled.
“He has matured a lot and takes everything in his stride, he plays well wherever you put him.
“Louis McGuckian is getting better and better, too, since coming over from Loughborough. It’s a big step up from student rugby and Louis is growing in stature.
“Judah came on and scored a try, he probably should have had a couple more. We have just got to work on the execution and make sure we get those other tries, too, next time.”
Derby’s final game before the Christmas break is at home against basement side Towcestrians on Saturday (2.15pm).