Belper unable to overcome Dronfield

A stern test against top of the table Dronfield was on the cards for Saturday's clash at Strutts Fields. After 3 good wins on the bounce Belper were riding high and there was a feeling that a Belper win was in order. Due to injury and availability, a number of changes from last week were required to bolster up key positions.

As with previous encounters, Belper expected a physical and bruising challenge. The Dronfield pack had a significant weight advantage and they used this to good effect throughout the game. Belper battled hard from the off and with some good pressure it seemed that Belper had the upper hand. The first score came from a Dronfield Scrum, the initial engage from Dronfield seemed to rattle the Belper scrum and as they guided the scrum to the line the Belper pack seemed to disintegrate, making it that little easier for Dronfield to cross the line and ground the ball.

Belper kept focus and came back at Dronfield from the kick off, it seemed obvious that Dronfield's strength came from their pack; the fringes were key today with tireless defensive work from the Belper pack a requirement. It was from this pressure that Belper were able to earn themselves a penalty with Inns and Matthews leaving the Dronfield player no choice but to hold on to the ball. Blount made it 3-5, with all to play for Belper continued the battle. Belper managed to settle down in the scrum and reduce the effectiveness of Dronfield, however work is needed on maintaining structure and tightness, a weakness that Dronfield capitalised on. Gaz Dakin managed a trademark handoff without injuring himself as he broke from the back of the scrum, upsetting the opposition 7 in the process, which is always a positive, only to be tackled 5 metres short of the line.

Both sides became frustrated towards the end of the half, Belper then lost Yates to a yellow card for an accidental stamp, discipline was lost by both teams with a few niggles here and there as the half came to a close, Dronfield capitalised on the numbers advantage with a well kicked penalty and went into the break with an 8 -5 lead.

The second half was much the same in that it was a physical encounter, however due to solid Dronfield pressure and a number of strange refereeing decisions the amount of clean ball that could be used by the dangerous Belper back line was reduced to kicking for territory which left Smith and Nicholson spending most of their time chasing down rather than running with ball in hand.

While Dronfield continued to keep the ball secure in the forwards, Belper were able to reduce the ground they made with some cracking defensive hits. The next score again came from the pressure of the Dronfield pack that took advantage of some ineffective defending to crash over in the corner.

On the occasions Naylor was able to get clean ball from underneath the Dronfield players who seemed to have a knack of getting away with going straight over the top, Belper seemed dangerous with some good distribution from Meakin and Blount and incisive running from O'Gorman, and Blackwell . It was from one of these breaks that O'Gorman scored in the corner following a period of good running and support play from the backs and predatory forwards. Belper sensed that they were still in it, however further odd decisions from the match official and Dronfield's relentless pressure resulted in a further try to bring the final score to 8-18 in their favour.

All in all Dronfield came to the party with the right plan and were able to starve the Belper backline of ball. A lot of individual effort was put in by all players this week and our gameplan was usurped by that of Dronfield, but significant improvement is required mentally if we are to beat teams like Dronfield. This week we have all three teams at home, Kick off starts at 1pm for the 3rds and the 1's and 2's at 3pm, the bar will be open and all are welcome.