Derby are paying penalty too often after latest loss
TOO many penalties are costing Derby in the early stages of the Midlands One East campaign.
And ill-discipline in the last 15 minutes of Friday night’s home game against Dronfield ultimately condemned Mark Bradley’s side to a 21-20 defeat.
“In the last 15 minutes we were just giving penalties away when we don’t need to,” said Bradley. “And it’s killing us!
“It was better than the week before but they have got to start learning, they have got to start thinking before they act.”
Dronfield opened the scoring at Haslams Lane when winger James Marshall raced through to score an unconverted try in the corner but Derby responded quickly.
A quick tap and go penalty ended with Jack Waggott scoring a try converted by Josh Bingham.
Then some slick passing moves took Derby upfield for a five-metre line-out. A driving maul was well executed and Sam Tebbs touched down.
Although the extras were missed on that occasion, Derby led 12-5 at the break.
Full-back Joe Farrell kicked a penalty for Dronfield early in the second half to close the gap but Bingham kicked three points for Derby to restore the home side’s seven-point advantage.
Lewis Hancock crossed for an unconverted try to increase Derby’s lead but Dronfield hit back immediately, Matt Hale taking a quick penalty before making it to the line for a try converted by Farrell.
He then kicked two penalties to give the visitors a 21-20 lead and, with only a few minutes remaining, Derby mounted an all-out attack ending with a driving maul close to the Dronfield line.
The referee seemed to indicate a penalty to Dronfield but changed his decision to an incomplete driving maul before blowing the final whistle, although some home players were bemused by the ruling.
“It does feel that some refereeing decisions are going against us but also sometimes it seems like that because we are not doing things right ourselves,” added Bradley.
“It can be easy to blame the ref. I’m not saying the ref is perfect but we have to look at ourselves.
“We need to stop our mistakes and then, hopefully, we can control the game.”
There is a break from league action this weekend, before Derby return to action with a trip to Kettering on October 23.
“The league seems quite close this season,” said Bradley.
“Some teams are getting beaten heavily each week but the top six or seven seem to be beating each other.
“At the moment we are just on the wrong side of the scoreline. We just need to keep our performances on the same level, although it would be nice to have a bit of luck go our way too, perhaps a penalty in the last minute for us!”