Lordwoods Dixonians 36 vs. Ashbourne 0 (League)

With the Dixonians pack seeming to have taken most of the season off it was time for them to step up and deliver against a potentially tricky opposition who had run Ludlow close the week before. Dixonians started with the wind in their faces and an early surge into the Ashbourne half brought about a penalty on the 22. Dicken Best, returning after a week away, was unable to convert, a trend which unfortunately continued for most of the game. However with Dixonians dominating in all areas of the park it was not long before they got on the score board. A scrum 5 metres out was awarded to Dixonians and with a front row brimming with experience the pack pushed Ashbourne back over their line allowing Paul Rotheram to simply drop on the ball. Ashbourne kicked off and despite a good take and a couple of phases the Ref awarded a penalty just short of the half way due to apparent blocking. The Ashbourne fly half opted to go for goal, obviously fancying himself a bit of a Jonny Wilkinson, pulled the kick way wide looking a bit more like Kenny Logan. Good, strong, straight running were cutting through Ashbourne and only a horrendous bit of white line fever from Rob Bell and a missed penalty from Best prevented the score from increasing. However a penalty kicked to the corner enabled the forwards to set up a driving maul which allowed Steve Roberts aka Neil Back (although slower, fatter and a lot uglier) to finish in the corner. Ashbourne were again given an opportunity to get on the score board but the attempt missed the left upright. The rest of the half played out with Dixonians camped in the Ashbourne 22 but poor decision making and an inability to keep calm when the try line beckoned were the only things keeping this game a contest. Dixonians did manage to get on last one before half time. After a few breaks for the line the ball was popped to Darren Walker who cut back on the covering defence and to his and everyone’s surprise , found himself over the line. Looking around with a lost look on his face it needed the advice of ‘put the ball down’ from his old man on the side lines to help Darren out of this pickle.

Half time score Dixonians 19 – Ashbourne 0

The second half kicked off with Dixonians determined to be more clinical, however it was Ashbourne who started the brighter and began to put a few phases together. But the Dixonians defence stood firm and was able to start to take the initiative again. Paul Rotheram got his second try mid way through the first half following some good hands in the loose. He decided that he was bored scoring in the conventional way and preceded to drive into the post. Although this is legal, using your head to test the post first is probably not advised. The next try followed a few minutes later with a scrum 10 metres out being held firm by the Ashbourne pack so the ball was released to Robbie Holden at fly half who cut through the Ashbourne back line like a hot knife through butter to score under the posts. Despite numerous chances and an increased focus on not conceding any points it took until the last minute for Dixonians to score again. Rothers picked up from a scrum in the middle of the park and popped to Tim Hodson who passed it on to Damian ‘the silver fox’ Webb. Showing that he had not lost any of pace in his old age (mostly due to not having any to lose) he broke through and ran in to finish from 20 metres out. He did need to lie down for a while after but refused month to month from Macky who was visibly upset that his ‘Sugar Daddy’ (Macky’s nickname for Damo) was 100%. With Dicken missing the conversion the game finished with a very satisfactory score line of 36-0

Full time score: Dixonians 36 – Ashbourne 0

Ginger Rider Danny Eason was awarded the Man of the Match award for his great display in the loose with Tim Hodson picking up the Dick of the Day award for letting his alter-ego Mitch enter the game.

This weekend sees Dixonians welcoming Melton Mowbray in the Cup and will put out an experimental side containing a few second team players who have impressed in recent weeks.