A TALE OF TWO HALVES

BURTON RFC 55 - 19 MELBOURNE RFC

The first local derby between Melbourne and Burton was a tale of two halves as the newcomers to Midlands 1 were the creators of their own destiny. Pictured above, Roger Lucas (Melbourne Scrum Coach) sharing a laugh vs Burton.

A fired up Melbourne played at tempo and with real direction for the opening fifteen minutes. It was a shock to the home side to be put under immediate pressure as Melbourne moved the ball excellently and secure good phases to take possession to the oppositions 5m line. However, following successive phase play, a move wide saw the Burton defence punish a high carry with an immediate rip, from which an innocuous clearance kick was poorly dealt with and the speedy Burton winger collected from the ground and ran the length of the pitch to score an easy converted try. This was to be the tale of the first half as Melbourne's effort saw no reward and errors and mistakes creeping into their play only to be punished by a well drilled and clinical Burton side. The first half ending 33 - 0

Following the half time interval and some honest home truths being asked, Melbourne entered the second half as though it were 0 - 0. All replacements entered the fray with Samuel Hancock in at scrum half, Joe Nicholson to tight head and James Lockhart in the backrow.

The difference in Melbourne's play was clearly noticeable, in fact polar opposite to the first half where they were now patient and composed, building pressure and putting Burton under pressure in loose and tight play. Following Burtons substitution of their tight head Melbourne had the upper hand in the scrums and pushed the home team off the ball on a couple of occasions much to the delight of the travelling supporters.

The first twenty five minutes of the second half was all about Melbourne who score 19 points to 5 and the confidence in the side shone through as they tested Burtons defence time and again. Scorers Jacob Watts, Ashley Stringer and Oliver Page showed that the green and gold have the tools and ability to be threatening in both the tight and open field.

However it was following Burton's revival and a five point score that Melbourne were once again shown that patience is critical as they chased a bonus point fourth try and in doing so loosened their play and defence to allow Burton to score successive tries in the final ten minutes and give a deserved win for Burton but a somewhat flattering scoreline of 55 - 19.

Head Coach, Matt Derbyshire said " Our opening exchanges were the standards that we expected and set for ourselves. If we had been a little more patient we would have collected the first points of the game and given ourselves a confidence boost and not been chasing the game so much. For a combined forty minutes or more we were in control of that game and playing a high standard of rugby, unfortunately it was the other forty minutes which was our undoing. I am proud of the lads response second half and there are positives to take from the game including the spirit and togetherness that was shown. We now move on and our focus turns to Camp Hill next week."