Melbourne ease to win over Sleaford

Melbourne’s first home game of the season saw them entertain Sleaford in the NLD Shield. The match ball was sponsored MRFC chairman Peter Ilott.
Dan Walker had his first outing at hooker, with Olly Page filling the 10 slot with Euan injured and Fish on the bench. Stefan Greenhalgh (snowy) started at scrum half. Al Judge started in the second row next to his brother Will. The first 10 minutes were a tight affair, with both sides testing each other out. The Sleaford pack were bigger, with Melbourne being younger and more mobile. Melbourne opened the scoring after 10 minutes. A line-out on the Sleaford 22 was stolen and Pagey made a little half break before popping the ball to Jordan Hollis to score. Theo De vies slotting the conversion. Sleaford fought back though and scored next. A penalty just inside the Melbourne half was conceded. Sleaford went quick, and the ball ended up with their powerful centre who broke through some weak tackling to score. The try was converted for a 7-7 scoreline.
The next 20 minutes were scoreless. Melbourne tried to force the ball a bit too early, and there were a few handling errors, as well as a few penalties conceded at the breakdown. A fine break from Pagey from his own half nearly saw a try, but the scoring pass was behind Dale (Mens Health) Bilson. Dale also missed another opportunity being tackled on the line by the strong Sleaford centre. Theo, playing at full back ran some good lines and the back row of Kier, Lowery and Rob Hollingsworth were powerful, with Rob constantly punching holes in the Sleaford defence.
The purple patch arrived just before half time with 3 quick scores. First to score was Rob Foster. Rob Holingsworth picked up at 8, ran powerfully, popped the ball to Theo who provided Rob with the scoring pass. Fro the kick off, Will Judge caught the ball, set it up. A short pop pass to Rob H again saw him make a great break, popping the ball to Ash Stringer to score. Finally on half tie, a break up the left saw Coyney, Pagey, and Dale involved with Jordan touching down for his second. Theo converted all 3 for a 28-7 half time score.
The second half was not as good. Sleaford scored a converted try and Rob Hollingsworth dotted down for Melbourne after some sustained pressure. This made the score 35-14 after 50 minutes and this is how it remained. The rest of the game seemed to be played on our about the half way, with Sleaford probably having the better of the territory. Melbourne gave away a series of penalties which saw Dale Bilson yellow carded. The final score was 35-14

Coach Ian Masters awarded Man of the Match to Rob Hollingsworth