Melbourne took to the road for the short trip to Ashby in Round 11 of Midlands 2. Changes to the squad saw Tony Day replace Gary Lakin at tighthead, Ed Whitten come into loose head and the second row completely changed as Nightingale came back in following injury and Morris Hall replace Alec Judge. In the back line, Charlie Livesey returned from injury and slotted into centre.

The bench presented new opportunities for 17 year old colt Matt Suddaby and Will Doleman making his senior 1st XV debut after some excellent displays in the second XV.

As expected the weather was horrendous with rain, strong winds and freezing temperatures.

Melbourne started strongly and in the first forty minutes must have had around 80% possession as they pressured and harassed Ashby. Melbourne set-piece dominated from the beginning as they gained the upper hand in the scrums and earned a series of well won penalties.
The first try of the match came following an excellent kick chase as man of the match Hancock chased many a dink and chip over the Ashby oncoming defence. One such kick saw Jordan Goddard hack the ball down field from a spilled Ashby lineout with Goddard and Hancock in hot pursuit. Turning the ball over Melbourne managed to retain possession for several phases, until Alex Nightingale managed to force his way over the line from a short distance out.

Ashby looked to kick deep but the lively Livesey, facing his two cousins at Ashby, countered well and exposed space in the wide channels. One of these runs resulted in the ball being moved wide right and a well timed pass saw Joe Stuart, playing right wing, power onto the ball at pace and score in the corner 0 - 14.

Ashby were reduced to 14 men shortly after for a playing killing the ball when Melbourne threatened the try line. The resulting scrum penalty was reset a total of six times as Melbourne dominated the set-piece - at one stage scoring directly from the scrum drive only to be overruled for an apparent wheel. With Melbourne securing the ball on the final scrum a pick and go resulted in several powerful carries and phases as Melbourne challenged the finger defence before moving the ball wide for Hancock to finish superbly wide left. 0-19

With 9 minutes of the half remaining the match had to be stopped and relocated due to a serious injury to the Ashby second row. We hope he recovers swiftly and wish him all the best.

The second half saw Nicholson replace Day at Tight Head and quickly becoming an interesting affair as Melbourne were reduced to thirteen with two quick yellow cards (Jack Fisher & Jack Percival the recipients). Ashby looked to attack and make the clear numbers advantage count but Melbourne showed true class as they organised there defence superbly and played down the clock with good game management and playing for territory. Suddaby replaced Whitten to take up a place in the back row seeing Percival switch to loose head and Doleman replaced Hancock who suffered an injury, to make this debut.

Ashby were soon reduced to fourteen themselves as the tighthead prop was red carded for a punch. Melbourne pressed and a fourth score was soon secured with Joe Livesey finishing a fine attack following some excellent running play by Will Doleman. 0 - 24

With day light limited and weather turning Melbourne continued to press for a fifth score, and right up to the final whistle created opportunities to build on their score but desperate defending kept them at bay.

A fine finish to the first half of the season which sees Melbourne retain top spot and having won 10 of 11 games. Plenty to improve on in the second half of the season. As this league has proven, including in the final week as Southwell won their first match against Long Eaton, everyone can beat anyone on their day.

Trys - Nightingale, Stuart, Hancock, Joe Livesey.
Kicks - 2 conversions Holden
YC - Fisher and Percival