Mature & Assured Melbourne Maul Matlock

Round 7 of the Midlands 2 campaign saw Matlock travel to Melbourne. On a rare dry but windy Saturday afternoon the green and gold welcomed second place Matlock to Cockshut Lane for a battle for top spot.

Melbourne was again saw multiple changes to the match day squad with over thirteen senior squad members unavailable for selection. The front row saw the return of Dan Walker and Jordan Goddard completed by the ever-present Gary (Pop) Lakin. The row saw James (Bennny) Benstead paired with Morris Hall. The back-row comprised of James Lockhart, Devon Iliffe and Tom (Wazza) Warren.

The backline was unchanged from the finishing lineup that completed the Market Rasen match. The bench welcomed debutant Alex Parnall, Jack Brough and Josh Mallet.

Melbourne received the kick-off and an immediate knock-on resulted in Melbourne being put under the expected forward dominated pressure. Matlock had excellent phase play set-up and ball retention was generally good. However, Melbourne's impressive defence once more ensure that they forced turnovers and handling errors from the visitors. Matlock, whilst having the lions share of possession and the conditions in the first half struggled to find their best as kicks were over egged and handling errors prevented momentum being rewarded.

Melbourne dominated both set-pieces with a strong display in the scrum and line-out.

Melbourne on the other hand, grew in confidence and maturity with every minute that passed. When opportunity presented they gratefully took it and built their overall grip and control of the game. Captain Holden playing an excellent game scored the first points from the tee, converting a penalty 3 - 0.

The green and gold looked dangerous with ball and hand and looked to play as much as conditions allowed. They frequently tormented the visitors defence and had them on the back foot as they tore holes through the line time and again. The first score of the day came from the irrepressible Joe "lively" Livesey. From the scrum the ball was secured and a blind side attack saw the green and gold get in behind Matlock before shifting the ball back into the open channel where Livesey lined up a perfect angle to receive the ball at pace and shear through the heart of Matlock's defence for a score 10 - 0.

Melbourne soon had further defensive duties. Matlock pressed and went through the phases, eventually taking the ball wide for their fullback to pop up and under-pressure from Melbourne's covering wing and fullback dot down in the corner for the visitors first try, which was a fine try but injuring himself in the process of scoring. 10 -7

The game continued to ebb and flow but the home side were turning the screw and their performance was looking more polished than in previous weeks. Holden adding another penalty as Matlock's discipline began to fade. 13 - 7

A turnover by Tom Warren released the ball on the far left of the pitch and Jack Pearce tormented the visitors defence by using good footwork and offload to release Warren centrally as he bulldozed his way forward, quick ball was generated and the support down the far open side channel saw interplay between Iliffe, Stuart, Livesey and Fisher with the latter using his "gas" (Jack "gasman" Fisher) to get behind Matlock and usurp the late attention of the covering defence. A quite fine team try with an individual finish to boot.

Half Time

With Melbourne now having the favoured conditions and gaining ascendency no changes were made. This had an immediate impact as Matlock seemed to self implode early in the second half. From the resulting kick off Melbourne pressure the visitors and forced a handling error by the left wing. Quickest to react was Melbourne's very own Joe Livesey who at pace, gathered the ball from the deck, stepped the covering defence and dotted down for the third try of Melbourne's day 27-7.

At this stage Jack Pearce was removed from the game as a precaution following a knock and a rejiggle saw Livesey move to centre and Stuart to fullback with Mallet entering the Frey.

The change saw paid off as Joe Stuart collected Melbourne's fourth try and bonus point as the green&gold continued to hammer on Matlock's defensive door. Once again the home side getting behind the visitors and despite facing to attempted tackles Stuart managed to drive to corner for a fantastic finish.

Further changes were made with Brough and Parnall introduced to the game. The "finishers" put in a spirited display and added impetus in what became a fiery end to the game.

Melbourne saw Goddard yellow carded for a harsh judgment of collapsing a maul and went down to fourteen for the last ten. Matlock rallied and began to play with real determination and gusto securing two late scores during this period. The response was too little too late however as the game had already been won by Melbourne and Holden added a further penalty to the scoreline.

Final Score: 38 -19

Tries: Livesey, Fisher, Livesey, Stuart
Kicks: Holden (18 points)
YC: Goddard
MOTM J Livesey