Men's Second Eleven Vs Ashby

Ashby were unfortunate to arrive at Wirksworth with only 10 players.

Derwent ont the other hand had the issue of juggling a squad of 15 players.

New skipper Boland rallied the troops, introducing fresher Callum to the squad, along with players of yester year Tom Williams and Luke Beckett returning to the fold. All three players putting in a sterling effort alongside ever present keeper Ed Berry, Steve King and Greg Lloyd in defence to maintain a clean sheet.

The new penalty corner routines certainly got Derwent off to a winning start with a brace of goals from Steve Langrick, and James Boland all following some slick interplay in the shooting circle before being finished off in style.

The Derwent midfield of Steve Langrick, Simon Taylor, Dave McGrillen, Issaac Raynor and Alex Merrick worked tirelessly and successfully to maintain the pressure on the Ashby defence. The home side reached half time with a 2-0 advantage, but unimpressed Taylor demanded more.

The home side responded by scoring the final three goals of the game in the second half with Dave McGrillen scoring the last of the unreported goals. The remaining forwards Ollie Rhodes and Andy Mckeown both played well, with assists from Mckeown and only the umpire disallowing a Rhodes goal for a previous lifted infringement prevented Ollie from getting on the score sheet.

Next week Derwent travel away to Soth Notts, which will be a much sterner challenge as they were thumped by this team last season. The new squad I hope will be up to the challenge.