Melbourne squad win at Moderns

Conditions: Muggy
Pitch: Flat, grassy and "taking take a stud"

Points of note: Joe "Ferrigno" Nicholson, Tommy "Dump" Howard, Pop 'Steve Thompson' Lakin

Report:
Melbourne travelled to Nottingham as visitors to Moderns RUFC. The fixture produced an upset last season as Moderns took advantage of a sloppy Melbourne side to knock the South Derbyshire team out of the NLD cup.

In the abscence of Jack Pearce it was left to Melbourne's very own H&S rep Will "hole hunter" Judge to point out the hazardous sink holes in the 5m channel of the vistors 22m area which the referee agreed posed a risk to the players and respectfully moved the game to the next pitch over.

As had been the case in the pre-season fixtures thus far, the squad yet again saw a mix of experience, youth and new blood with seasonal senior debuts for Steph Greenhalgh, Fin Lowson and Will Butler.

First Half
With the whistle sounded Melbourne received the kick-off. Moderns had a bunch of big boys in the pack and started brightly exerting pressure through their scrum half. Melbourne hit the rucks hard and gained front foot ball allowing the outside backs to dictate the game. A sweeping move in the 10th minute sent new recruit Andy Martin into space and with pace to burn as he ran in the score which was converted by Holden.

On Melbourne's 10m line Moderns secured the ball under pressure from Melbournes pack and looked to spread wide where Tommy "Dump Tackle" Howard was waiting. Even though his opposite man may have weighed twice his own body weight, the winger duly picked up his opposite man and carried him into touch for a Melbourne throw.

Melbourne continued to dominate field position and the early exchanges. The next score coming courtesy of a lineout as a training ground move paid dividends as stand in hooker pop "thompson" lakin drove the ball over the line to make it 0-12.

Melbourne's forwards were imposing themselves well in the game. A typically powerful run from Day, through a mass of bodies, up to Moderns 5m line was stopped short but for Bobby "Dont drop it" Hollingsworth to then take the ball up to and over the defensive line with an angled and purposeful run for a well worked try. Converted by Holden (19-0).

Chris "man cry" Purce, who simply has little or no respect for his body in tackle and ruck, had his game cut short due to injury as Fin Lowson came on to make his senior debut, instantly making telling tackles and disrupting rucks.

As the minutes ran on Melbourne continued to look for further scores but error or decision making prevented any additional scores or points.

Second Half
With Melbourne looking to up the tempo and show a clincal edge, changes were made with Joe Nicholson and Will Butler coming on for their debuts and Will Cresswell entering the fray.

A well weighted kick began proceedings and it was beautifully taken by Rob Foster to maintain pressure on Moderns defence.

With momentum appearing lost on the home sides 22 it was a superb blindside break by Joe Nicholson, with a bullocking run, as the second row smashed his way over the last defender to dot the ball down for a converted try. This was just the beginning of the replacements contribution as his "lou ferrigno" esk calls could be heard from the sidelines as he ran great support lines and carried well.

The next score came from the other debutant Will Butler as the New Zealander capped off a fine backs move with an arced supporting run to dot down right of the posts to make the score 0 - 31.

Melbournes final score came courtesy of Rob Foster who capped a fine well rounded performance off in style as he clinically finished another sweeping move from the green machines backs to see the scoreboard read 0 -38.

In the final ten minutes Moderns galvanised put several strong phases together with their ten being the creative threat. Melbournes defence held firm with great defensive cover tackles by Andy Martin on a couple of occasions.

Final Score 0-38

With a cup fixture up next, the whole team know we can improve further and that a testing season lies ahead.

One to nineteen played their part in this victory, with the most satisfying element being the 0 for Moderns. Some big performances on the pitch and too many to name but..

MoTM - Andy Martin: confident going forward and reliable in defence.