Sat 30 Mar 2019
A lovely Spring Day at Heathbrook was ideal for DK’s Ladies Day, which was a great success, and showcased the day. Though, the style was certainly turned on, during an exciting game, with DK in a rich vein of form at the moment, their last league defeat was way back on the 5th January.
Though, the first half did start promisingly for DK they were active in the ruck and maul early on with Josh Brown’s early successful jackelling at the ruck regaining possession for DK, James Ryan was featuring in the early encounters with his telling carries, and Sam Vaughan was gaining field position with some racking kicks that were forcing Stoke back. Though, this early good work was undone, when DK attacked from deep and the Stoke 10 intercepted and strode in for the opening try, which went unconverted, 5-0 to Stoke.
DK hit back quickly and it came from a James Ryan run following a scrummage, which drew in the defence, the backline was ready and the half backs combined and Stef Shillingford made a direct run which dented the defensive line and the offload to his centre partner Will Hancox who also ran straight and hard and that created a hole for the looping Jordan Brookes to go through and score the try, the kick was missed so 5-5.
DK started to gain the ascendency and used their kicking game to gain field position, and were almost over for a try following a move which saw the ball passed from side to side of the pitch, with Matt Squires making a dart for the posts, support arrived quickly, but a penalty against Matt for holding on stopped the attack.
A quick penalty from Connah Jones, began a period of play close to the Stoke line, but it was error strewn, a DK Forward pass, a Will Hancox kick through for Charlie Baffour rolled into touch, then a Stoke player dropped the ball and DK hooker James Fildes took full advantage and burst through to the line and DK’s second try, with Sam on target as well it was 12-5 to DK.
Stoke struck next with a period of pressure in the DK 22, where they put together a series of rolling mauls which were stopped by DK, but this passage of play ended with a 5 metre scrum, which was driven over by Stoke to make the score 12-10.
DK were back on the attack following the kick off, but were undone by a Speight of knock-ons, though there was some impressive ball carrying by the forwards in particular Matt Perks and James Ryan. The backs were starting to get in on the act with the ball going towards Charlie’s wing and he was making good progress on that flank and feeding he ball back inside to his support.
Next came one of those moments that could have proved costly in a close game; following a quick Connah Jones penalty and a run across the field Stef Shillingford cut the line and appeared to score a try, but Referee Mr Johnson was not convinced. To make things worse Stoke survived the immediate danger and made their way down the field and scored a try following a clever grubber kick through the DK defence was followed up and touched down, Stoke into the lead 15-12.
In the dying moments of the half Matt Perks drove the ball towards the Stoke line, but it was turned over, but the clearing kick which would have ended the half was charged down by Stef Shillingford and he was able to drop on the ball which had trickled into the in goal area, and a Sam Vaughan conversion saw the first half end 17-15.
Half time, the talk from the coaches must have hit the spot, and was reflected in the second half performance.
The wind whilst not a major influence on the game, it came from a strange direction for Heathbrook in the second half it was blowing directly across the pitch form the stand side, from a penalty early in the half DK used the wind to gain position and from the resulting lineout a planned move with number 8 Pete Griffiths outside Jordan Brookes, saw Pete make serious in roads into the Stoke defence, on his outside was blindside wing Charlie Baffour who was able to continue the move well into the Stoke 22 and the cover defence had been overwhelmed so when Charlie was halted an offload to the supporting Jordan Brookes saw the stand-off in for a try with Sam adding the extras 24-15.
Moments later an almost carbon copy this time saw Charlie Baffour scythe through the defence for his first try, Sam made it another 7 pointer 31-15 to DK.
DK then went through a period where they were inaccurate with their skills and let Stoke back into the game though they could not move the scoreboard, then it was back to full octane DK; it started with a Jordan Brookes interception which gave an opportunity but the distance was becoming a factor and the chasing defenders were closing in, so Jordan put in an angled grubber for Stef Shillingford who was busting a gut to get up in support. Then the ball took control and bounced away from Stef and went dead before it could be touched down, though this seemed to be the catalyst for DK in the final quarter.
Charlie added his second try, when a clearing kick by Stoke was fielded by Matt Perks who fed the ball to Charlie who found his way through the kick chase and was off down the left wing and in for the try 36-15 to DK.
By this time the DK bench had been emptied and Joe Dunn continued to catch the eye with his high tempo game, but it was Callum Nicholls who really caught the eye with a bosting carry straight down the middle ending at the Stoke 22, the DK forwards were on hand to keep the move going it came to Will Hancox going into the scoreboard corner, with a lack of space it was back to the DK favourite of the day the grubber, his time it bounced up perfectly for Charlie who was past the defenders and was able to close in on the posts, plus two from Sam it was now 43-15 to DK.
DK finished the scoring when following a Pete Griffiths carry, Joe Dunn picked and went, creating a 2 on 1, and his well-timed pass saw Tommy Walker on the right wing in for the eighth and final try, Sam made it 50 with the conversion.
When DK started this final block of four games the task was four five point wins, half way through and still on course, but nobody is expecting an easy task at Stourbridge Lions next Saturday. You can do your bit by coming and supporting the lads, I look forward to seeing you there.
Though, the first half did start promisingly for DK they were active in the ruck and maul early on with Josh Brown’s early successful jackelling at the ruck regaining possession for DK, James Ryan was featuring in the early encounters with his telling carries, and Sam Vaughan was gaining field position with some racking kicks that were forcing Stoke back. Though, this early good work was undone, when DK attacked from deep and the Stoke 10 intercepted and strode in for the opening try, which went unconverted, 5-0 to Stoke.
DK hit back quickly and it came from a James Ryan run following a scrummage, which drew in the defence, the backline was ready and the half backs combined and Stef Shillingford made a direct run which dented the defensive line and the offload to his centre partner Will Hancox who also ran straight and hard and that created a hole for the looping Jordan Brookes to go through and score the try, the kick was missed so 5-5.
DK started to gain the ascendency and used their kicking game to gain field position, and were almost over for a try following a move which saw the ball passed from side to side of the pitch, with Matt Squires making a dart for the posts, support arrived quickly, but a penalty against Matt for holding on stopped the attack.
A quick penalty from Connah Jones, began a period of play close to the Stoke line, but it was error strewn, a DK Forward pass, a Will Hancox kick through for Charlie Baffour rolled into touch, then a Stoke player dropped the ball and DK hooker James Fildes took full advantage and burst through to the line and DK’s second try, with Sam on target as well it was 12-5 to DK.
Stoke struck next with a period of pressure in the DK 22, where they put together a series of rolling mauls which were stopped by DK, but this passage of play ended with a 5 metre scrum, which was driven over by Stoke to make the score 12-10.
DK were back on the attack following the kick off, but were undone by a Speight of knock-ons, though there was some impressive ball carrying by the forwards in particular Matt Perks and James Ryan. The backs were starting to get in on the act with the ball going towards Charlie’s wing and he was making good progress on that flank and feeding he ball back inside to his support.
Next came one of those moments that could have proved costly in a close game; following a quick Connah Jones penalty and a run across the field Stef Shillingford cut the line and appeared to score a try, but Referee Mr Johnson was not convinced. To make things worse Stoke survived the immediate danger and made their way down the field and scored a try following a clever grubber kick through the DK defence was followed up and touched down, Stoke into the lead 15-12.
In the dying moments of the half Matt Perks drove the ball towards the Stoke line, but it was turned over, but the clearing kick which would have ended the half was charged down by Stef Shillingford and he was able to drop on the ball which had trickled into the in goal area, and a Sam Vaughan conversion saw the first half end 17-15.
Half time, the talk from the coaches must have hit the spot, and was reflected in the second half performance.
The wind whilst not a major influence on the game, it came from a strange direction for Heathbrook in the second half it was blowing directly across the pitch form the stand side, from a penalty early in the half DK used the wind to gain position and from the resulting lineout a planned move with number 8 Pete Griffiths outside Jordan Brookes, saw Pete make serious in roads into the Stoke defence, on his outside was blindside wing Charlie Baffour who was able to continue the move well into the Stoke 22 and the cover defence had been overwhelmed so when Charlie was halted an offload to the supporting Jordan Brookes saw the stand-off in for a try with Sam adding the extras 24-15.
Moments later an almost carbon copy this time saw Charlie Baffour scythe through the defence for his first try, Sam made it another 7 pointer 31-15 to DK.
DK then went through a period where they were inaccurate with their skills and let Stoke back into the game though they could not move the scoreboard, then it was back to full octane DK; it started with a Jordan Brookes interception which gave an opportunity but the distance was becoming a factor and the chasing defenders were closing in, so Jordan put in an angled grubber for Stef Shillingford who was busting a gut to get up in support. Then the ball took control and bounced away from Stef and went dead before it could be touched down, though this seemed to be the catalyst for DK in the final quarter.
Charlie added his second try, when a clearing kick by Stoke was fielded by Matt Perks who fed the ball to Charlie who found his way through the kick chase and was off down the left wing and in for the try 36-15 to DK.
By this time the DK bench had been emptied and Joe Dunn continued to catch the eye with his high tempo game, but it was Callum Nicholls who really caught the eye with a bosting carry straight down the middle ending at the Stoke 22, the DK forwards were on hand to keep the move going it came to Will Hancox going into the scoreboard corner, with a lack of space it was back to the DK favourite of the day the grubber, his time it bounced up perfectly for Charlie who was past the defenders and was able to close in on the posts, plus two from Sam it was now 43-15 to DK.
DK finished the scoring when following a Pete Griffiths carry, Joe Dunn picked and went, creating a 2 on 1, and his well-timed pass saw Tommy Walker on the right wing in for the eighth and final try, Sam made it 50 with the conversion.
When DK started this final block of four games the task was four five point wins, half way through and still on course, but nobody is expecting an easy task at Stourbridge Lions next Saturday. You can do your bit by coming and supporting the lads, I look forward to seeing you there.
