Ledbury RFC maintained their strong run in the league with a confident 33–17 away victory over Droitwich RFC with First XV and Lions teams both victorious, writes Stephen Smith.
The showery afternoon, meant that the encounter wasn't quite free flowing rugby, but it saw Ledbury display its prowess.
The action began with Ledbury's early pressure inside the Droitwich 22.
A Droitwich error in throwing at a subsequent lineout allowed Ledbury to gain control quickly.
Though Droitwich tried to retaliate with a strong midfield burst and a probing kick ahead, Ledbury's back three handled the situation efficiently, shifting to the left and giving Josh Hill a chance to display his speed—one of the decisive factors in the game.
As Ledbury dominated the scrum, it consistently forced penalties, keeping the home team at a disadvantage.
Yet, despite their dominance, the conversions didn't always match up, and promising attacks often ended fruitlessly due to penalties for holding on.
A Ledbury scrum on halfway was penalised by a refereeing decision, despite Droitwich being driven backwards at a steady pace.
Droitwich failed to make the most of their opportunity and before long, Ledbury struck a decisive blow.
Josh Hill found a defensive gap and passed to Charlie Pallett, who opened the scoring. Jack Hughes added the conversion for a 7–0 lead.
The referee's whistle was constant, disrupting any continuous play due to penalties; however, Ledbury adapted better.
After a strong Droitwich attack, Ledbury cleared their lines.
Droitwich failed to make the most of it and Ledbury moved left once again, with Hill cutting infield to make it under the posts for Ledbury's second try.
Hughes converted, too, increasing the lead.
From the restart, Droitwich kicked the ball dead, gifting Ledbury a scrum on halfway.
Charlie Bowness, the scrum‑half, was halted illegally by a high arm, and then immediately sought the try again, slipping the ball inside to Delamore, who crossed untouched for the third try. Hughes converted again.
Ledbury sensed the bonus point, and before the half-time break, Delamore managed to outpace the defence to score his second try.
Despite missing the conversion, Ledbury led 26–0 by halftime.
Conditions worsened in the second half, but Pallett scored again for Ledbury, with the try converted by Hughes, bringing the score to 33–0.
Droitwich, to their credit, never stopped battling and with the result effectively settled and Ledbury’s intensity dropping, managed to score three well-crafted tries of their own, ultimately rounding off a more respectable scoreboard of 33–17 at full time.
Meanwhile, the Ledbury Lions managed to secure their win with a 48–66 victory over Droitwich 2XV.
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