Dronfield Stags show resilience despite being on the losing side
Dronfield Stags travelled down to South Derbyshire with a somewhat depleted side once again, in part to unavailability but also due to some players being called up to the 1st XV squad.
Those representing the club realised that they would be faced with a difficult task with Leesbrook 1st XV currently placed in a higher position in Midlands Counties 3 East (NW)
Unfortunately, the Stags run of poor form and dwindling confidence continued against a much bigger Leesbrook side but there were plenty of positives shown to take forward and with players due to return from injury and unavailability, This will give the Stags a much needed boost in the coming weeks.
The match started well for the Stags with them showing great heart and determination to thwart waves of attack from Leesbrook through resolute defence and last ditch tackles to thwart attacks, but the pressure told in the end and they conceded a try after 15 minutes.
However, this did not deter the Stags and their scrum began to dominate against the heavier pack, led by the superb Sam Carson at loose head. This enabled the Stags to gain valuable territory and a penalty was awarded which fly half Luke Nicholson duly converted to make it 5 - 3.
This continued and some enterprising play by the backs resulted in a break by senior colt Eli Marshall-Preece but unfortunately he was well tackled on the 22, however the pressure the Stags had put Leesbrook under led to another penalty which again was converted by Luke Nicholson to take a 5 - 6 lead with a few minutes of the half to play. Regrettably the Stags weren't able to exit cleanly and as the ball was spilled the Leesbrook number 7 gathered the ball and went in close to the posts which was converted to make it 12 - 6 at half timeto the home side.
The second half became a different game despite the excellent performance by the scrum and lineout throughout but Dronfield weren't able to capitalise on the possession gained and Leesbook started to gain confidence. They kept the ball and exerted a lot of pressure on the Stags with their phase play and were able to break down the defence and scored three further tries in relatively quick success to take the game away from the Stags who were left shell-shocked. To their credit, they did muster enough energy to work their way up field and Alex Parkin made a fantastic break evading the Leesbrook’s defence to score close to the post which was converted by Luke Nicholson.
Sadly, Leesbrook had the final say with a breakaway try to seal the deal for them leaving the stags dejected after showing so much fight throughout .They played with great commitment but on this occasion fell short of their own high standards Next week they return to Gosforth Fields for the fixture against Ashfield 1st XV who, like Dronfield Stags have won three of their first eight league matches,