Apart from a lapse twenty minutes, Drybrook were always in this game.
Hornets R.F.C. 33pts
Drybrook R.F.C 22pts
Drybrook travelled to second in the league Hornets and put in a real gutsy performance which clearly rattled the home team, who looked as though they were expecting things to be much easier than they were.
A large Drybrook contingent were at the ground early to watch the curtain raiser between Hornets U 13s and Drybrook U13s. The Drybrook boys relished the 4g surface and swept aside the opposition with some great rugby involving forwards and backs.
The large Drybrook crowd then made their way to the clubhouse where they were able to enjoy watching their hosts enjoy their pre match banquet.
On a bright but rather chilly afternoon Hornets kicked off long to begin the game.
The first exchanges were all going the way of the Foresters and Tingle, Frowen and Peaper carried the ball far into Hornet’s territory.
Hornets were testing the offside line to the limit in order to keep the visitors at bay and finally the ref intervened to award Drybrook a penalty that Tom Treherne easily slotted to give Drybrook a three points to nil lead after six minutes of play.
The green machine, buoyed by this early success, continued to press forward. The lineout was again working well and putting pressure on the oppositions throw. From this, Drybrook were able to launch a number of attacks and Corado Colombo at scrum half was his usual live wire self, continually testing the home defence with his sniping breaks.
Dillon Worsley was enjoying the amount of ball coming his way and the young outside half was using that ball well to put Ben Large and fellow centre, Danny Price, through the gaps in the home defence.
One such break by Large saw him then kick
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ahead for winger Luke Roberts to chase. The Hornets number fourteen made a complete hash of dealing with the ball and Roberts made him pay by dotting the ball down in the corner for the first try of the game.
This seemed to stir the Hornets nest and they used their dominant scrum to apply some pressure of their own.
Drybrook were putting up a good rear-guard action, but unfortunately were unable to do much about the scrum where the much larger home team held the sway.
The turning point in the game came about as pressure from one of these set pieces. Drybrook were penalised for standing up in the front row and the Hornets took a quick tap penalty from somewhere near the mark.
Colombo, surprised to see his opposite number so far away from the incident put in a tackle, but was deemed to have stopped the opposition within ten yards of the dubious mark and was sent to the bin.
The home team used their numerical advantage to score a converted try from the resulting penalty.
Drybrook managed to keep Hornets at bay for the remainder of the half and take a slender eight points to seven advantage into the break.
Drybrook began the second half still a man down, and to be fair to the home team they made sure they took full advantage of the situation. They ran in a couple of try’s to give themselves a healthy twenty-one points to eight advantage.
Drybrook began to lose the confidence they had built up in the first period and Hornets, now playing a much better game, added to their tally taking the score up to thirty-three points to eight with twenty minutes of the second half played.
Anyone expecting the visitors to crumble and succumb to a heavy beating was in for a surprise.
From the restart, Drybrook came firing back into the game refusing to go down without a fight.
Bailey Watts who was on as replacement drove forward and from the resulting ruck, good ball was delivered to Danny Price who made more metres through the middle of the park.
Drybrook then forced a lineout ten metres from the Hornets line and an excellent catch and drive saw the ball come back to the returning Harry Howard who used his superior strength to go over the white-wash. Treherne made no mistake with the conversion and the visitors were up to fifteen points.
Drybrook continued to show their fighting spirit and pressed the home defence hard with some good play but Hornets held firm. It wasn’t until the final minute of the game that the visitors got over the line from a driving lineout for Callan Williams to score. Treherne put the seal on a gutsy Drybrook performance by adding the extra two points to make the final score thirty-three points to twenty-two in favour of the home team.
Apart from a lapse twenty minutes, Drybrook were always in this game, and no one could have expected more from them up against a very good Hornets team, who look odds on to finish in one of the two top spots in the league.
Drybrook have a break next week before taking on Ivybridge at home on the twenty sixth of March.
Drive on Dry!
Drybrook – T Treherne, H Howard, D Price, B Large(Capt), L Roberts, D Worseley, C Colombo, M Bourne, S Peaper, K Frowen, J Tingle, G Nott, J McKenna, C Williams, M Addis, H Daynes, B Watts,
Apart from a lapse twenty minutes, Drybrook were always in this game. 