Derby's fightback falls short in loss

ULTIMATELY, Derby paid the price for their first-half display as they suffered a narrow 29-28 home defeat against Blackburn.

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Jake Barker made his 100th appearance for Derby against Blackburn. PIC: GEOFF FORD

(GEOFF FORD)

The hosts trailed 22-0 at halftime in the Regional 1 North West encounter but turned the tables after the break and had a chance to win it at the end.

"It was a really disappointing start," said Derby head coach Liam Slatem. "We were second to everything and it was disappointing because we had talked about making a fast start.

"At halftime there didn't need to be many words from the coaches as the players quickly took accountability.

"My overriding message was that our discipline was killing us as we infringed a lot and for a team that wants to focus on discipline we certainly didn't do that. As a result, we were 22 points down with 40 minutes to play.

"But the players took accountability and really drove things. That was positive because we got the response we wanted."

Blackburn kicked off and the game could not have started much worse for Derby.

With only four minutes played, Blackburn had scored two unconverted tries to lead 10-0.