Droitwich 20 Veseyans 14
North Midlands Shield round two
DROITWICH prevailed in their first competitive fixture of the season on Saturday to set up a North Midlands Shield quarter-final clash at Kidderminster Carolians.
From the kick-off Droitwich were immediately put under pressure from the very strong and mobile Veseyans side. After camping out on their own line, eventually Veseyans broke through the Droitwich defence to score a converted try under the posts.
Strong words after that try prompted Droitwich to step it up a gear and from the kick-off they attacked the Veseyans try line and were awarded a penalty that Bobby Scott-Walker converted.
Droitwich were now starting to build their phases and put the Vesesyans defence under pressure, as strong running from Dave Oliver and Russ Brown gained valuable metres.
After a break by Mark Strutt he offloaded to Scott-Walker for him to use his speed and agility to step past two defenders and race away and score in the corner. He then superbly kicked the conversion to make the score 10-7 at half time.
Droitwich’s defence was exceptional in second half defending on their line for 20 minutes, as good tackling by Glenn Topping and Ben Ream prevented the visitors from scoring numerous times, however after three consecutive scrums on their own try line eventually Veseyans were awarded a penalty try to go 14-10 up.
It was now Droitwich’s turn to attack and clever play by Trevor Young and Dave Edwards in the middle of the park set up quick ball for Chris Oliver to feed the backs and they delivered.
A good break by Sean Walker saw him go close before he fed the hungry Rob Poke to flop over in the corner. Scott-Walker continued his excellent kicking game and converted the try from the touchline, before he then added another three points five minutes later with a stupendous drop goal from 30 metres out.
A superbly organised defence prevented the visitors from snatching the lead at the end and Droitwich progressed through to the next round.
On a very hot day Droitwich played extremely well to get the win against a very tough Veseyans side who are sure to be up at the top of the table in their league.
Trevor Young added after the game that now is the time for Droitwich to start their season well and they need to be playing like this every game.
It looks to be an exciting season ahead for this young Droitwich side, who travel to Pinley on Saturday for their Midlands Two West (South) opener.
BROMSGROVE were beaten 36-18 at South Leicester in their National League Three Midlands clash.
The visitors made a strong start to the game but the quality of play in all areas on show during the first 20 minutes then mysteriously disappeared for the rest of the game.
Two excellent tries from charge-downs must be mentioned, as Ben Meadows towered over the South Leicester kicker at close range and chased his own charge-down to score, and this was quickly followed by Ieian Mustow chasing a charged down ball to get his maiden try for Bromsgrove.
Unfortunately the magic went away shortly afterwards and South Leicester bossed the breakdown for much of the rest of the game.
There is massive promise but the Boars, who host Bournville on Saturday, need to play for a full 80 minutes to be competitive in this league.
