Up & Away for the Green & Gold

In testing blizzard like conditions, the 1st XV travelled to Sutton Coldfield knowing that the match ahead of them was a vital one. Sutton, despite narrow losses, have run some quality teams close and Melbourne were unsure what side they would face. The facilities and hosts at Sutton Coldfield were fantastic, warmly welcoming the green and gold (playing in the reserve yellow kit due to a clash of colours this week) but also showcasing the setup they have which are on par with the best in the league.

Great credit must go to the ground staff and volunteers for getting this game on in the first place as wintery showers before kick off obliterated all the lines.

Once again Melbourne's squad saw changes. Captain Holden was struck by illness seeing the impressive Joe Livesey step into flyhallf. Walker, Lakin and Stark were unavailable through injury so in came Coyne, Day, Benstead. It was also great to see the returning Howard back in the squad following a long but successful comeback from injury.

The early exchanges were dominated by Sutton and was largely centred around the forwards - as would be expected with the aforementioned conditions - but Melbourne gained some early ground through strong carriers and offloads. However, it was Sutton that built the early pressure and territorial dominance. It was no more than Sutton deserved when Mike Burns, from close range, wriggled his way over under the posts allowing Ben Morgan to tap over the routine conversion for a 7-0 lead.

Sutton's lead was soon halved when Sam Hancock kicked a penalty goal after the Derbyshire visitors first foray into our 22. This seemed to encourage them and they began to press and gain superiority at the breakdown despite the Sutton's forwards delivering their best efforts in bruising fashion.

The early forward exchanges began to take a toll as both sides were enforced into change - Judge, Hancock and Coyne all being replaced due to injury. Nicholson, Howard and Purce all entering the action early. on.

Melbourne’s counter-rucking and patient phase play began to have a growing influence on proceedings and it wasn’t long before Harry Stevenson crossed for an unconverted try and a 8-7 lead for the visitors. However, a well struck penalty goal by Ben Morgan on half time saw Sutton go into the break with a slender 10-8 advantage with it all to play for in the 2nd period.

Melbourne identified their needs and areas for attention in the half time interval and set about putting it into action, clearly benefiting from the break as the green and gold gained ascendency. The scrum was a huge positive for Melbourne despite having to re-jig the positional arrangements on occasion to cope with injury and cramp!

Melbourne began to run the score board up, scoring 4 tries though James Benstead, Tom Howard, Jack Pearce and Oliver Page to wrap up a bonus point win, and our first away win this season, the margin could have been greater as acting fly half Joe Livesey successfully delivered one of the four conversions. Sutton’s 2nd half response was in the form of two further penalty goals by Ben Morgan.

Melbourne's determined performance was a show of great togetherness. A number of players shone but on post match discussions it was Charlie Livesey's name that came out as the favoured Man of the Match. The impressive youngster shone and showed real glimpses of class in a highly competed and physically demanding match.

The final score read 30-16 to Melbourne in a game where a fine 2nd half performance brought a deserved victory.