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The 1983-84 season was believed to be the best season in
the then 60 year history of the club.
Out of a total of 35 1st XV games the team won 30, drew
2 and lost 3. Sean Jennings broke the individual points record, the team
managed 20 unbeaten games in a row and set a home record run of 18 unbeaten
games. Derby scored 119 tries and conceded only 29 tries.
The then skipper Richard Lucas said at the time "it
is impossible to pinpoint one reason why we had such a good time this season,
but a major factor was the way we avoided injuries. Any successful team needs
that sort of good fortune. We have not been without any key players for very
long throughout the season and that has been very important to the balance of
the team. We have also had our fair share of luck along the way but every
successful team has that".
Richard also praised those players who only came in for
one or two matches as cover for injuries and they didn't let the side down. He
said "we now have a very strong squad and we can pick players for most
positions from the second team".
Home form held the key to success
When Derby started their home programme back in
September with a 17-12 defeat against Solihull, they could not have dreamed that
it would have been their last defeat at Kedleston Road for the remainder of the
season. They then went onto play 18 home games, winning 17 successive matches
and drawing the final one against Paviours.
It was a home record like that which provided the base
from which the club went about breaking records almost every week.
Their biggest home win of the season was against
Ashbourne in the Derbyshire Cup 1st round, a 58 - 0 drubbing, although
Ashbourne gave a better account of themselves than the scoreline suggests.
Jennings achieves a points record
Sean Jennings, Derby's powerful kicker achieved a club
record by totaling 351 points. Sean missed only one match all season and took
his then career total for Derby to 1,585 points. He was an important member of a
very strong team and his value was not lost on captain Richard Lucas. Richard
said " in a kicker you look for consistency during a long season and Sean
has never let us down".
As well as taking all of the penalities and conversions
Sean scored 11 tries in the season - the best he has ever achieved.
At the time of the 1983-84 season, in the points table
list, Stuart Hamilton was in second place with 101, followed by Colin Cornfield
on 66 and Ian Hamilton on on 64.
Stuart Hamilton finished top of the individual try
scorers list with 21. Two players tied for 2nd place, Colin Cornfield and Ian
Hamilton with 16. That was a club record for the forwards.
Ian Scott scored 11 tries and Simon Lawson 10 to under
line the all round ability of the Derby side.
Roger Lucas remained top of the all time appearances,
with 34 in the season he moved onto a total of 377, with his brother Richard 31
appearances behind at a total of 346.
After Sean Jennings in the all time points total list
came Stuart Hamilton with 656 and there were almost 400 points between him and
Colin Cornfield.
Three Counties final low point
There were very few disappointments during the 1983-84
season, but the major one came in the last game of the season.
Derby drew 3 - 3 against the Nottingham side Paviours in
the Three Counties Cup final but Paviours were deemed the winners because they
were the away side.
This meant that Derby missed out on playing in the next
seasons John Player Cup without even losing.
"It was a real body blow for the lads"
said Club secretary Tony Fry, "we really felt we would win, a place in
the John Player Cup would have been a just reward for our efforts but it wasn't
to be".
On the way to the Three Counties Cup final, Derby beat
Ashbourne, Lees Brook, Matlock and, in the county final, Amber Valley.
Ian Hamilton takes over as skipper
At the end of the season, Richard Lucas stood down as
the Captain of the 1st XV and was succeeded by Ian Hamilton.
Richard announced his intentions some time earlier in
the season and was delighted to end his stint as skipper with such a successful
season. He said "the team have achieved a great deal this season and it
has been good to be a part of it. Things have been running so smoothly that the
captaincy this season has been relatively straightforward".
Ian takes over with plenty of experience of captaincy,
he has led the county side for the past four seasons.
Tony Fry commented, "Ian took some persuading to
takeon the Derby captaincy, but we know he will be a success".
Looking to the Future
Derby Rugby Club's senior 1st XV side had grabbed all of
the headlines during the 1983-84 season but plenty of good work was being done
at lower levels within the Club.
Youngsters were being encouraged to become involved in
the game and Mini-Rugby sessions were being held on Sunday mornings throughout
the season. It has been a great success and even only a handful of players work
their way through to the Senior side in the years to come, then the scheme will
have been a success.
Acknowledgements
This review of the 1983-84 season was extracted from a
report written by Kevin Marriott of the Derby Telegraph.
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