Second Half Slump

On a dank Saturday afternoon Melbourne travelled down the M1 to visit Lutterworth in a confident mood following the win against Hereford. Melbourne brought Stephenson in to the front row in the absence of Walker, Purce and Nightingale came into the backrow with Lockhart and Benstead unavailable. The backline saw a tactical change with Iliffe moving to the wing and Livesey into centre, Hancock moving to the replacements bench.

Melbourne, playing down the pitch, started brightly and looked threatening from the whistle. Lutterworth had an obvious size advantage and the majority of their play came through their talismanic eight...who was also their place kicker for the game.

Melbourne attacked with purpose and good structure taking an early 0 - 3 lead following a penalty call for the home side going off their feet. It was minutes later that following persistent attack saw Nightingale score an early try driving for the line following several good phases of play to extend the green and golds lead to ten.

Lutterworth had rarely threatened but following a central penalty had reduced the deficit to 7 with 10 minutes of the half remaining. Unfortunately for Melbourne a knock-on within their 22 saw Lutterworth form a strong scrum with a controlled drive towards the line. Good defence prevented an immediate score but a few phases further saw Lutterworth squeeze over for an unconverted score. 8 - 10

Melbourne continued to press Lutterworth, a second try went begging wide right, following excellent backline play the ball was moved across field to Iliffe but for the ball to be dislodged in contact. A second opportunity was again missed when Melbourne were pitched in the Lutterworth 22 and rolling through the phases making the hard yards, credit to Lutterworth for excellent defence but more composure and patience may have seen points gained rather than a penalty conceded.

It was a positive first half and Melbourne led by two points in a highly competitive game.

As the light began to fade and rain fell it appeared to emulate Melbourne's performance as the second half became a game of attrition. Gary Lakin replaced Joe Nicholson as the only immediate change. Lutterworth used their strong ball carriers to make the yards whereas Melbourne tried to play the ball a little too much and put themselves under unnecessary pressure.

Holden soon came off with an injury to be replaced by Hancock and Smith for Stephenson.

The officials performance also swung in favour of the home side issuing a series of penalties culminating in a yellow card to Percival for kicking the ball on the ground and an additional 10 yards for questioning it. Despite the law stating a quick penalty cannot then be taken the ref allowed the home side to do just that catching Melbourne unaware and giving away easy yardage from where Lutterworth launched their carriers to break through and score. 15 - 10

Melbourne needed composure and to play the conditions better, Lutterworth had renewed confidence and their simple game plan was effective. Lutterworth were awarded a penalty within Melbourne's half and a quick tap saw them move the ball to their inside centre to drive through the defensive line, leading to a simple score which was worsened by Nightingale being immediately and incredibly yellow carded for not retreating the full 10m.

Despite being back to fourteen the final ten minutes were all Melbourne who had several opportunities to bring the score to within seven points. Determination could not be faulted but decision making at times was rushed and the green and gold unable to find the try line.

Final Score 22 - 10