Derby to set their stall out at home
DERBY will look to send out a warning to their Midlands One East rivals when they play their first home game of the campaign tomorrow.
A long wait for a league game at Haslams Lane was extended because Rugby Lions couldn’t raise a team for the scheduled season opener on September 4.
So, instead, Bedford Athletic will be the first visitors this season tomorrow (3pm) and they arrive with two wins under their belt, having beaten West Bridgford 39-18 and Belgrave 59-22.
But Derby will be in high spirits, too, after their thumping 61-0 away win against Towcestrians last Saturday.
“Bedford usually like to play a very expansive way, so I expect them to be running quite a wide game,” said Derby head coach Mark Bradley.
“We have been doing some work on that as this will be a different challenge from our first game against Towcestrians. Bedford will want to run us around the park.
“It’s our first home game of the season and you want your home to be a fortress. We will want to get the kind of result that makes other teams look at us and not fancy coming here because they will know they are in for a hard game.”
There will be two changes to the Derby side that defeated Towcestrians, with Jeri Oldfield stepping in at prop and Will Town getting a chance on the wing.