There is an old adage that rugby matches are won and lost by the forwards, the backs simply deciding the margin of victory. The script was neatly followed in this derby fixture - the first between these clubs' 1st XV’s in over a decade. Dudley’s back row and threequarters were competitive and dangerous throughout, but were negated by a streetwise Saxons performance in which their significantly bigger, stronger and fitter pack took Dudley’s front 5 to the cleaners.

The match drew an attendance well into 4 figures – the biggest reported in the day’s entire National Leagues programme, bigger even than Moseley’s home fixture with Nottingham and the Duchy derby at Redruth.

Captain Nathan Bressington won the toss and opted without hesitation to defend the south end, getting first use of a light breeze and putting the sun into the eyes of the Dudley back 3. The Saxons lineup showed 2 personnel & 1 positional change. Director of Rugby Neil Mitchell was grateful to have signed outside half & kicker Caolan (pronounced “Kay-Lynne”) Ryan who spent last Saturday on Moseley’s bench at Bedford and slotted in in place of Sione Tu'ipulotu. Stefan Cooksammy retained the left wing berth after bagging 2 tries at Bees, ditto Will Hurrell the inside centre spot at the expense of Ben Barkley who dropped to the bench. Player coach Nick Adams was the other arrival in an otherwise unchanged bench lineup.

DK no.8 Jon Tideswell (brother of Saxons’ old boy James) landed a shoulder hit on Rich Stott with the game in only its 1st minute. Noticing that the offence drew just a mild rebuke from referee Michael Tutty, barely 2 minutes later Robbie Hurrell delivered an even less subtle late tackle on Dudley’s outside half Jon Higgins, drawing nothing more than a few words of rebuke however as DK were awarded a penalty.

The first scrum followed a DK knock on, hooker Matt Humphries penalised for popping up as the Saxons’ drive came on. Round 1 to Mark George & Stewart Pearl. They blotted their copybook at the next scrum though when penalised for packing not square, but the subsequent DK lineout was stolen by Nigel Mukarati. Tideswell conceded another defensive penalty for side entry, and Ryan unleashed a howitzer of a kick that found touch deep in the DK 22.

Rich Stott took the lineout, the drive came on but the maul was pulled down, Mr Tutty identifying Tideswell once again as the offender. This time he got a lengthy lecture before the Saxons opted to scrum. Up went the volume, up came the DK front row again, another penalty and again the Saxons opted to scrum. When Humphries again couldn’t handle the pressure Mr Tutty lost patience and awarded a penalty try which Ryan converted. 12min 7-0.

The restart was kicked back to DK, who drew a penalty for side entry. Nothing came of it but Gary Dipple then got caught offside and conceded a further 10m for throwing the ball away. Again it was kickable but DK opted for a lineout in the Saxons 22, DK left wing Matt Farrington bundled into touch just short of the line as he gathered a chip through from Higgins.

The Saxons cleared their lines but conceded another penalty for not rolling away at the tackle. DK again ran it quickly but a big hit by Pearl on Higgins knocked the ball loose and it was hacked downfield into touch. Possession was traded, but the Saxons pack got the squeeze on at the scrum, out popped Humphries again and the forwards briefly traded calling cards. DK’s claims of skulduggery got no change at all out of Mr Tutty who awarded the Saxons a penalty that Ryan knocked over from the 15m line. 24min 10-0.

The restart set up a set of exchanged long range kicks, when the ball finally made touch it was noticeable that not one of the DK front 5 even jogged to the mark. Robbie Hurrell won the lineout 1-handed for Pete White to feed it long left to Ryan, who in turn found Will Hurrell straightening the line from deep. He hit the pass at full tilt to break the line tackle of DK talisman centre Stefan Shillingford, clear with only the full back to beat he fed Mukarati in support on his left shoulder who scored a lovely try in the corner. Ryan’s conversion drifted to the right. 27min 15-0.

Stung into action, the DK threequarters regathered a short restart and launched a set of phases that reached the Saxons 22. James Rodley was penalised for not releasing in the tackle and a quick tap was again prevented by the ball being thrown away, earning another 10m advance and a lecture for captain Bressington. DK’s catch & drive was held up but the ball was fed wide left where it found the Saxons’ defenders outnumbered enabling DK fullback Simon Fletcher to score. The conversion was missed, 30min 15-5.

The Saxons conceded another penalty at the tackle near midway, DK again opting to run it quickly but losing possession and then compounding the error by putting a clearance kick into touch on the full. The Saxons drove phases from the lineout but were turned over in the tackle, DK kicking the ball deep infield. Stefan Cooksammy covered and spotted an opportunity to stretch the DK defence. After several drives Will Hurrell spotted a mismatch, broke another tackle and found Tom Jarvis running in support who scored. Ryan landed the conversion, 35min 22-5.

The Saxons were content to wind the clock down to half time, kicking deep into the DK 22 and inviting the counter from deep. Farrington fumbled a kick that Mr Tutty reckoned to have gone backwards, but the DK attack was marshalled into touch and the halftime whistle went. 22-5 and only one set of supporters smiling.

DK replaced 2nd row Ed Parry at halftime, the Saxons reappeared unchanged. Both sides fumbled the ball twice in the next set of phases before DK won a further turnover on the floor and Higgins was able to use the breeze with a deep infield kick. Will Hurrell gathered and achieved the not insignificant feat of running round Chance before bouncing Gore out of his path. The attack stalled though when Stuart Pearl came in at the side, but Higgins’ kick found touch-in-goal so the Saxons took a scrum back.

DK’s tighthead Al Francis limped off, to be followed shortly after by outside centre Gareth Bown. Poor Saxons’ handling gifted possession back to DK who kicked deep and found touch, but a promising Cooksammy counter down the right flank was snuffed out when he lost the ball in contact with Mukarati running unmarked on his shoulder. DK’s next attack stalled when Shillingford got isolated and was penalised for holding on in the tackle. Ryan slotted the penalty, 47min 25-5.

DK regathered the restart but their replacement centre Chris Perry was lined up by Will Hurrell who stripped the ball clean from his grasp, but the counter-attack drifted into touch. Rich Stott again stole the DK lineout ball though, and after a couple of phases a nicely timed Will Hurrell pass to his right found Gary Dipple straightening the line at pace, breaking the tackle to score the Saxons’ 4th try. Ryan converted, 51min 32-5.

With the bonus point secured the next 20min saw a rash of Saxons tactical substitutions that affected their shape and saw them go off the boil, moves stalling due to soft penalties and an early scrum engagement. A word of credit here also to DK, who lost loosehead Rich Kelly injured on 58min but elected to continue with contested scrums. A lesser side would have taken refuge in uncontested scrums at this point.

The next significant attack saw Saxons replacement centre Ben Barkley launch a trademark crash ball run, the drive reaching DK’s 5m line before Drew Harper got isolated in the tackle and penalised for holding on. Cooksammy kept the clearance kick in play but Barkley was turned over in the tackle, DK’s counter snuffed out by Nick Adams coming in at the side and earning another lecture for captain Bressington for the spoiling tactics. From the kick DK won a lineout in the Saxons 22 and moved the ball quickly right where Jarvis found himself defending a 2-on-1 with the inside cover too slow to arrive. DK replacement Rhys Pritchard scored the try which was unconverted, 63min 32-10.

A loose pass saw the Saxons next attack stall just short of the DK line, but their front row collapsed as the Saxons got a drive on the DK feed. The Saxons smelt blood and again took the scrum option instead of the 3 points, this was rewarded with a 2nd penalty try as the DK front row stood up when the drive came on. Ryan slotted the conversion, 68min 39-10.

The Saxons leaked a couple more penalties in some error-strewn rugby before DK took a quick tap near their 10m line and fed it to Shillingford coming on at pace only to be dumped by Ben Barkley in a huge hit. Mr Tutty penalised the Saxons for not rolling away, though, and they would have had little cause for complaint had he brandished a yellow card for persistent offending at the tackle area, but before he could find it DK took another quick tap penalty only for Gore to be turned over at the tackle. The Saxons countered and Drew Harper would have scored had he not fumbled the regather of his chip into the DK 22.

DK conceded another couple of penalties for collapsing their scrum, the Saxons opting to go again both times. But the 3rd scrum held steady and the Saxons opted for a back row drive from which Will Jones made it over the line but was driven back before he could ground the ball. With the Saxons awarded another scrum Drew Harper’s short side drive produced the final try. The conversion missed but it was fulltime, 44-10.

The Copthorne Merry Hill Man of the Match award went to Will Hurrell for a huge 58min performance.

Director of Rugby Neil Mitchell observed afterwards “A local derby is always a potential banana skin, so I was very pleased with the win and especially pleased with the dominance upfront. We must remember though that this team is still work in progress, we’ve only played a few games together and we lacked a little cohesion towards the end – I was disappointed we tried to force things rather than play the phases when we were in front”.