Tale of two halves as Stags overcome Amber Valley

Saturday’s Midlands Division Four East (North) clash between the two Derbyshire rivals went the way of Buxton 50-24.

Buxton had already overcome Amber Valley in the cup recently but knew they’d be in for a tougher ride this time around.

Amber Valley’s defence began well but Buxton’s young Stags took the lead when full back Mellor sprinted in out wide.

The home side responded with a try of their own and Shaun Dowdall converted to make it 7-5 early on. The lead didn’t last long.

Torrence was next to go over tracking Mellor and Sircar 50 metres down the right but the hosts responded again with a converted try and a penalty.

Pullen went over under the posts for the visitors as the teams went in at half time all square at 17-17. It proved to be a game of two halves.

Buxton used the bench to their advantage and a quick tap penalty from McGuigan sent in Mellor for his second and a 24-17 lead.

A clear gap in the score soon followed when Sircar went in under the posts for a converted try. Buxton’s captain then went over for a converted try.

A Buxton error let Amber Valley in again - tries scored by Stuart Artliff, Arron Robinson and Adrian Head throughout the afternoon - made it 38-24.

Stags pushed on as Amber Valley tired and Wagstaffe and Sircar scored for a 50-24 win. But much improvement for Amber Valley from the 72-0 cup loss.

Amber Valley’s first team captain said: “The effort level of all the lads was immense and to come out against a strong Buxton team and put in a solid 80 minute performance, giving 110 per cent is a credit to everyone.”

Buxton Stags’ director of rugb Karl de Groot added: “The boys are extremely pleased with an away win of such magnitude but as equally disappointed that we gave away 17 clear points through challenging the referee and ill discipline, so we discussed this at length afterwards and it won’t happen again.”