Early dismissal adds to All Blacks' woes
Battling Bridgnorth went unrewarded as their losing streak extended to four games following a 25-17 National League 3 Midlands defeat at Derby.
But the All Blacks will take heart from a determined second-half performance after they had trailed 15-0 at the interval.
The visitors found themselves a man down early on when full-back Simon Fletcher was shown the red card and they were down to 13 for a period in the second half after James Rodley picked up a yellow card.
Scrum-half Gareth Bladden praised his side's character after they rallied after the break as they now set their sights on picking up a positive result at home to Lichfield on Saturday as they bid to pull clear of the drop zone.
"It was another game where we could and maybe should have won," said Bladden. "The red card was very unlucky but nowadays the referees are very strict on certain rules and have a zero tolerance policy on any contact near the head area, even if accidental.
"We started the game very well but the red card after 10 minutes swung the game and Derby took advantage.
"We showed unbelievably character to stay in the game with outstanding defence and scored two good tries but unfortunately it wasn't enough."
Bridgnorth started brightly and a powerful run by Charlie Wright resulted in a penalty.
Unfortunately for the visitors Llew Williams was off target with his effort and then missed another attempt just before Fletcher saw red.
Derby cranked up the pressure on Bridgnorth's depleted defence to claim a try and a conversion to lead 7-0.
The hosts increased their advantage with another try and a penalty to go into the break 15 points to the good.
Bridgnorth got their backline moving after the break with Matt Farrington and Jimmy Gore combining to create a chance for James Hill to score with Williams adding the conversion.
A penalty from Williams put the visitors back in touch at 15-10
However, another indiscretion under their own posts, saw Rodley receive a yellow card and Derby a gift seven points for a penalty try.
Derby added another penalty to their tally before Darren Brick, Bridgnorth's man of the match, led the charge for Tim Breakwell to score a good try. The conversion made the score 25-17.
Bridgnorth them missed out on a losing bonus point when another penalty was squandered on the stroke of full-time.
