Sat 21 Dec 2019, 14:15
Like everywhere in M1W land Heathbrook had seen its fair share of rain, the pitch was not at its best as a result and demanded for the long stud, but this did not detract from an entertaining afternoon’s rugby, especially those who favoured the blue hue of DK.
For those following from afar the result 87-0 conjures up a picture which does not totally convey the true nature of the contest. It was probably the 0 which gave the most pleasure to the coaching team, there were periods of the game when the Droitwich attack was thwarted after sustained periods of pressure built up through ball retention but the blue defensive line holding firm, and forced Droitwich to pile players into the subsequent ruck and maul to win their own ball, which in turn stifled their ability to continue to offer a real threat to the DK D. This was often compounded by astute targeting of when to go for the turnover by DK, which when successful allowed a counter attack to gain ground often due to the over commitment by Droitwich to try to secure the ball.
Though there was also a contrast between the two attacks, with Droitwich often using their forwards to take on the DK defence close in, before using their backs, which gave the DK defence time to organise. Whereas the DK attack was more varied and there was the willingness to move the ball and attack further away from the initial point of contact, also there was a willingness to move the ball across the field to find edges to attack and even to go coast to coast to stretch and tire the defence; with the added threat of straightening through holes at any time.
DK took the lead very early on in the first half, when a sweeping move from left to right saw full back Sam Vaughan enter the line just inside right wing Tommy Walker and this meant a 2 on I, which was executed well and Tommy Walker was off towards the Droitwich line, but and inside pass found its way to second row Dan Marsh who powered over for the first try, Sam was on target so 7-0 to DK.
Moments later DK were awarded a penalty just inside the Droitwich half, and it was belted into touch inside the Droitwich 22 in front of the clubhouse. The line out was well won by Dan Marsh and the DK forwards worked infield around the tail of the line out with a series of pick and goes, and the Dan Marsh show continued with him being on hand for the pick and go that crossed the line, Sam on target again, 14-0 to DK.
DK were soon on the attack again and a sweeping backs move saw the ball into Tommy Walker’s hands again on the right wing, this time with defenders across in front of him a kick ahead only just rolled through the in goal area before Tommy Walker arrived, a 22 to Droitwich.
Droitwich then kept the ball for a while and were forced into a kick to clear their lines, this allowed Sam Vaughan to counter attack, the full back was able to evade the first chaser and link up with his DK team mates an off load to Stef Shillingford saw the ball move to the left, but a pass back to the right and Will Hancox, who was then able to time a pass to Dan Marsh and put him through a gap for a try which gave the big second row a first half hat trick, then the Question who was the last DK second row to score a hat trick for the First XV. (No prize, but any ideas? Was it our Snapper Ian Jackson?) Sam added the extras so it was 21-0 to DK.
The next DK foray into the Droitwich 22 was a three quarter move towards the right wing and Tommy Walker again, but Will Hancox could see the space quickly being blocked off so another kick into the Droitwich in goal area once again the roll just beat Tommy’s chase.
The resulting 22 was charged down by DK’s Kieron Williams and a period of pressure was exerted by DK, and a DK scrummage led to a DK penalty for not binding fully, which resulted in a DK line out in the Pavilion corner, the ball was won by DK and out to the backs, but Harry Bayliss came back towards the forwards and onto Mitch Grealey, who made ground as well, then Dan Marsh, who was stopped this time by the Droitwich defence.
The next try was a well-executed move the DK backs moved the ball from right to left and a well combination of Will Hancox and Sam Vaughan who hit the line well, gave Charlie Baffour a clear run in to the line and it was now 28-0.
DK next took advantage of a backs move from right to left, the ball reached Will Hancox in the outside centre channel and a swerve to the outside allowed Sam Vaughan to hit the line at speed and create space for Charlie Baffour on the outside who sped in for the fifth try on the 30 minute mark, with 2 more from Sam 35-0 to DK.
The sixth try of the half was very similar to the previous one, the move started a little closer in, and this time Will Hancox got on the outside of his man before offloading to Sam who was tackled but was able to reach the line, but it was his conversion that was the icing on the cake it was sent to the outside of the posts and the breeze and the curve Sam had implied saw it arc straight through the posts, and 42 -0 to DK.
Droitwich came back in the game in the dying minutes of the first half, but could not move the scoreboard.
The half time messages would have been interesting, with the different perspectives from each set of coaches.
For those following from afar the result 87-0 conjures up a picture which does not totally convey the true nature of the contest. It was probably the 0 which gave the most pleasure to the coaching team, there were periods of the game when the Droitwich attack was thwarted after sustained periods of pressure built up through ball retention but the blue defensive line holding firm, and forced Droitwich to pile players into the subsequent ruck and maul to win their own ball, which in turn stifled their ability to continue to offer a real threat to the DK D. This was often compounded by astute targeting of when to go for the turnover by DK, which when successful allowed a counter attack to gain ground often due to the over commitment by Droitwich to try to secure the ball.
Though there was also a contrast between the two attacks, with Droitwich often using their forwards to take on the DK defence close in, before using their backs, which gave the DK defence time to organise. Whereas the DK attack was more varied and there was the willingness to move the ball and attack further away from the initial point of contact, also there was a willingness to move the ball across the field to find edges to attack and even to go coast to coast to stretch and tire the defence; with the added threat of straightening through holes at any time.
DK took the lead very early on in the first half, when a sweeping move from left to right saw full back Sam Vaughan enter the line just inside right wing Tommy Walker and this meant a 2 on I, which was executed well and Tommy Walker was off towards the Droitwich line, but and inside pass found its way to second row Dan Marsh who powered over for the first try, Sam was on target so 7-0 to DK.
Moments later DK were awarded a penalty just inside the Droitwich half, and it was belted into touch inside the Droitwich 22 in front of the clubhouse. The line out was well won by Dan Marsh and the DK forwards worked infield around the tail of the line out with a series of pick and goes, and the Dan Marsh show continued with him being on hand for the pick and go that crossed the line, Sam on target again, 14-0 to DK.
DK were soon on the attack again and a sweeping backs move saw the ball into Tommy Walker’s hands again on the right wing, this time with defenders across in front of him a kick ahead only just rolled through the in goal area before Tommy Walker arrived, a 22 to Droitwich.
Droitwich then kept the ball for a while and were forced into a kick to clear their lines, this allowed Sam Vaughan to counter attack, the full back was able to evade the first chaser and link up with his DK team mates an off load to Stef Shillingford saw the ball move to the left, but a pass back to the right and Will Hancox, who was then able to time a pass to Dan Marsh and put him through a gap for a try which gave the big second row a first half hat trick, then the Question who was the last DK second row to score a hat trick for the First XV. (No prize, but any ideas? Was it our Snapper Ian Jackson?) Sam added the extras so it was 21-0 to DK.
The next DK foray into the Droitwich 22 was a three quarter move towards the right wing and Tommy Walker again, but Will Hancox could see the space quickly being blocked off so another kick into the Droitwich in goal area once again the roll just beat Tommy’s chase.
The resulting 22 was charged down by DK’s Kieron Williams and a period of pressure was exerted by DK, and a DK scrummage led to a DK penalty for not binding fully, which resulted in a DK line out in the Pavilion corner, the ball was won by DK and out to the backs, but Harry Bayliss came back towards the forwards and onto Mitch Grealey, who made ground as well, then Dan Marsh, who was stopped this time by the Droitwich defence.
The next try was a well-executed move the DK backs moved the ball from right to left and a well combination of Will Hancox and Sam Vaughan who hit the line well, gave Charlie Baffour a clear run in to the line and it was now 28-0.
DK next took advantage of a backs move from right to left, the ball reached Will Hancox in the outside centre channel and a swerve to the outside allowed Sam Vaughan to hit the line at speed and create space for Charlie Baffour on the outside who sped in for the fifth try on the 30 minute mark, with 2 more from Sam 35-0 to DK.
The sixth try of the half was very similar to the previous one, the move started a little closer in, and this time Will Hancox got on the outside of his man before offloading to Sam who was tackled but was able to reach the line, but it was his conversion that was the icing on the cake it was sent to the outside of the posts and the breeze and the curve Sam had implied saw it arc straight through the posts, and 42 -0 to DK.
Droitwich came back in the game in the dying minutes of the first half, but could not move the scoreboard.
The half time messages would have been interesting, with the different perspectives from each set of coaches.
The first chance of the second half was from a kick through, this time by Will Hancox, on the left with a grubber through for Charlie to chase, this time it stopped short of the line and Charlie had that difficult decision as to what to do with a defender hurtling towards the ball as well, his attempt to pick it up failed and the danger passed.
Though, it was not long before DK moved the scoreboard again a line out in the 22 in the scoreboard corner, saw Dan Marsh win clean ball and the ball out to the inside centre Will Hancox who then timed his pass to Stef Shillingford to perfection and the outside centre was on a line to cut back on the inside shoulder of his would be tackler, and through for a try plus the extras from Sam, 49-0 to DK.
Droitwich then mounted a period of pressure keeping the ball for quite some time only to be rocked by the DK defence in the shape of prop forward Arran Hudson who put in a bone crunching tackle. It did not last long and DK were on the attack again and it was the Dan Marsh show again the big second row was on another rampaging run through the Droitwich 22 for his fourth try, it was under the posts so the extras went to Sam 56-0 to DK.
The next DK try was one of those that has you thinking was this brilliant coaching or totally off the cuff. A line out on the DK right just inside the Droitwich 22, DK win the ball look to move it out to the backs, but no the ball is passed back to Tommy Walker behind the lineout, the winger races around what would have been the front of the line out, and fourth kick lucky, his kick ahead stops in goal and he touches it down, shock Sam misses, 61-0 to DK.
Then, DK score off first phase, a line out on the left, taken and straight out to Harry Bayliss at 10, the two centres have pulled wide and in comes Charlie from the blindside wing, and under the post, plus two 68-0 to DK.
From another line out on the DK left the DK backs were off again, with Charlie coming into the line outside the centres and he was bulked to the outside and moved back towards the forwards and was able to put replacement back rower Josh Brown through a hole and Josh made it to the line, with Sam making it 75-0 to DK.
Then a try which perhaps summed up the DK performance, a good defensive stint and the ball turned over, then the two centres making a break and a Will Hancox kick ahead, picked up by Stef Shillingford and Charlie Baffour in close support to finish the move, but Sam did miss the conversion, 80-0.
The final try went to Mitch Grealey with a typical burst through the Droitwich Defence to make the score 87-0 when Sam added his eleventh conversion of the game.
Have a good Christmas, the next DK M1W action is on Friday 3rd January, at Heathbrook when Worcester are the visitors for a 7:30pm kick off.
Though, it was not long before DK moved the scoreboard again a line out in the 22 in the scoreboard corner, saw Dan Marsh win clean ball and the ball out to the inside centre Will Hancox who then timed his pass to Stef Shillingford to perfection and the outside centre was on a line to cut back on the inside shoulder of his would be tackler, and through for a try plus the extras from Sam, 49-0 to DK.
Droitwich then mounted a period of pressure keeping the ball for quite some time only to be rocked by the DK defence in the shape of prop forward Arran Hudson who put in a bone crunching tackle. It did not last long and DK were on the attack again and it was the Dan Marsh show again the big second row was on another rampaging run through the Droitwich 22 for his fourth try, it was under the posts so the extras went to Sam 56-0 to DK.
The next DK try was one of those that has you thinking was this brilliant coaching or totally off the cuff. A line out on the DK right just inside the Droitwich 22, DK win the ball look to move it out to the backs, but no the ball is passed back to Tommy Walker behind the lineout, the winger races around what would have been the front of the line out, and fourth kick lucky, his kick ahead stops in goal and he touches it down, shock Sam misses, 61-0 to DK.
Then, DK score off first phase, a line out on the left, taken and straight out to Harry Bayliss at 10, the two centres have pulled wide and in comes Charlie from the blindside wing, and under the post, plus two 68-0 to DK.
From another line out on the DK left the DK backs were off again, with Charlie coming into the line outside the centres and he was bulked to the outside and moved back towards the forwards and was able to put replacement back rower Josh Brown through a hole and Josh made it to the line, with Sam making it 75-0 to DK.
Then a try which perhaps summed up the DK performance, a good defensive stint and the ball turned over, then the two centres making a break and a Will Hancox kick ahead, picked up by Stef Shillingford and Charlie Baffour in close support to finish the move, but Sam did miss the conversion, 80-0.
The final try went to Mitch Grealey with a typical burst through the Droitwich Defence to make the score 87-0 when Sam added his eleventh conversion of the game.
Have a good Christmas, the next DK M1W action is on Friday 3rd January, at Heathbrook when Worcester are the visitors for a 7:30pm kick off.
