Walsall suffered their first home defeat of the season last Saturday as Dronfield produced a strong performance that showed why they are the current league leaders. The Derbyshire team opened the scoring after twelve minutes as hooker George Burch secured the touchdown after a strong drive from a lineout.. Stead added the conversion and then a penalty five minutes later. It was halfway through the first half that Walsall opened their scoring with captain Adam Nunney putting over a well struck thirty five yards penalty. The hosts were beginning to show more confidence in their attacks, but a charged down kick resulted in centre Hind racing over from forty meters to extend the Dronfield lead before the interval.
Walsall’s dynamic winger, Max Brown, gave his team some hope early in the second half. He pounced on a loose ball and outpaced the defence over thirty five yards for a much needed try for his team, with Nunney adding the conversion. But it was the visitors that secured the vital scores during the final ten minutes. Stead adding a penalty after a Walsall deliberate knock on. Surprisingly there was only one further score as centre Farrell cut through the home defence with Stead adding the conversion. Special mention must be made of Connor Pitt. He has returned to the Walsall area and came on to play his first game in nine years for his boyhood team.