Market Drayton down Oswestry on derby day

Dan Bolton led the way with two tries as Drayton secured a 31-14 success against Oswestry.

The game was played in very wet and muddy conditions and the first 20 minutes were nip and tuck with neither side gaining the upper hand.

Both defences were putting in heavy tackles and open play was difficult in the conditions, but Ravens held on to the ball through several phases and the ball was quickly fed to Alex Gammon, who put a delicate chip over the rushing Oswestry defence and was first to react as he pounced on the ball to score just left of the posts.

Oswestry then managed to gain some momentum and after going through several phases the ball was worked to Tommy Bromage who touched down under the posts. Tom Williams added the conversion.

Ravens responded and after the visitors made a mess of a lineout, a series of rucks ended with Bolton picking up and driving over. Gammon added the conversion to nudge his side 12-7 ahead.

That advantage was wiped out before the break as Oswestry’s powerful pack gained territory inside Ravens’ 22 and Nathan Suman dived over under the posts.

Williams slotted over the conversion to give the visitors a 14-12 half-time lead.

But that was as good as it got for Oswestry as Drayton took charge of proceedings in the second half.

They had to wait 15 minutes before registering the next score when a clever kick from Gammon started a flowing downfield move that ended with Dewi Griffiths beating Oswestry’s scrambling defence to score under the posts. The extra two points from Gammon’s boot made it 19-14.

With their confidence high, Ravens were now dominant in the scrum and comfortable with the lineout.

The pressure on the visitors continued and after multiple drives earned a penalty, Bolton showed some quick-thinking with a tap and go to dive over the line. Another successful kick from Gammon extend Ravens’ lead to 26-12.

With Oswestry down to 14 men after a yellow card, Ravens rounded off the scoring with a try from full-back Luke Walters.

Elsewhere in Counties Two Midlands West (North), Cleobury Mortimer edged out Veseyans 20-17, Clee Hill won 26-7 at Handsworth and Bridgnorth seconds were awarded a home walkover against rock-bottom Aldridge.

Ludlow seconds were 42-12 winners over Eccleshall in Counties Three Midlands West (North), while Bishop’s Castle & Onny Valley went down 42-27 at Redditch.