Derby Rolls Royce Leisure 3-1 Cromford (MRA Prem)

I dont have details on the early years of the club other than Rolls Royce Welfare Derby were Derby & District Senior League winners in 1941-42. In 1983 they were known as Rolls Royce (Derby) and joined the Central Midlands League (CML), transferring from the East Midlands Regional League. They won the Premier 1 division title in their debut season in the CML and were promoted to the Premier Division.

In 1988 they had a change of name to Derby Rolls Royce and they remained in the CML until 1997 when they joined the Midlands Regional Alliance (MRA). A change of name again occured at the start of the century, this time to their present title of Derby Rolls Royce Leisure. In 2005/06 and 2006/07 they finished as Premier League runners up.

A Red Arrow bus from Nottingham Victoria takes you to Derby bus station. From there an Arriva bus 43 from bay 15 will take you to the nearest stop to Moor Lane on Osmaston Park Road. Walk back 50 yards from the stop then turn right into Moor Lane, passing the Moorways Stadium. On the opposite side of the road a little further down is the Rolls Royce Club.

The pitch is railed off along the dugout side and Moor lane end but only half railed behind the near end. The other side has wooden posts and blue rope separating the main pitch from pitch number 2. There is hard standing running along the length of the dugout side.

The game kicked off four minutes early and the home side in black and blue stripes took an early lead. The ball was worked to the Cromford corner flag and put out for a throw in. A long throw came into the area and was flicked on for Matt Savage to score from close range. The home side were running rampant and Cromford did well in stopping them adding to the one goal already scored. It was twenty minutes before Cromford had a meaningful effort at goal and on 28 minutes Cromfords Alex Statham had a shot on target but it was straight at the keeper. Just before half time Cromford were to benefit from chaos in the Rolls Royce defence. After clearing a free kick a Rolls Royce defender was lying prone in the six yards box, the defence moved up as play continued then the ball was crossed into the area where Kyle Johnson dummied the ball for Alex Statham to rifle the ball into the net. HT 1-1.

The second half saw Rolls Royce strike on 47 minutes. They regained the lead from a stunning 25 yard free kick from Ash Foster, which sailed over the keeper into the roof of the net. Owen Brown of Rolls Royce was a threat along the right wing and an Ash Foster shot was tipped over on 65 minutes. Cromfords Kyle Johnson went on a weaving run and set up Alex Statham with a shot that hit the base of the post. Cromford had a good period of pressure but couldn't convert their chances. They were to rue the missed opportunities when Rolls Royce got their third goal five minutes from full time. The ball was cleared upfield and Sean Godden beat two defenders and laid the ball off for Davy Hamson to stroke the ball past the keeper. FT 3-1.