Melbourne took a trip over to the Peak District this Saturday to take on a strong Matlock. The weather was kind despite light rain making a short appearance in the second half.

February has been a disruptive month for Melbourne with only two games schedule in four weeks. The squad selected saw Goddard reinstated to starting hooker and Percival starting at No.8. The backline welcomed Charlie Livesey back at centre and Oli Saffell shifted to fullback.

The first half was a tense affair, both sides showing their physical prowess, Melbourne started the brighter with reclaiming their kick-off and going through several phases that tested the Matlock defence. Melbourne dominated the scrum and saw a number of early penalties fall their way and Melbourne took a 0-3 lead. This was short lived as Matlock relied upon their predicted yet effective mauling game to score the games first try from a lineout penalty.

Once again Matlock's indiscipline quickly cost them their short-lived lead as Holden extended their points tally to 6-5 following the award of a second penalty.

Strong carries by Nightingale, Percival and Rudkin saw the green and gold establish front foot ball. An excellent break by Holden was well supported by loose head prop Rudkin who drove strongly towards the try line, managing to dot down left of the posts. 13 - 5.

Matlock regained possession and battled well with some strong running from their blindside flanker and No.8 prominent carriers. Melbourne defended resolutely but a gap opened up just before half time and Matlock scored their second try of the day.

A third penalty from Holden followed quickly by some excellent backline movement saw Olly Saffell score for the second game running and extend the green and golds lead to 21 - 12.

Discipline was costing Matlock and Melbourne went looking for the extra bonus point with their phase play dominating the later stages of the second half. From the lineout the ball was moved wide for centre Charlie Livesey to drive home and score 28 - 12.

To their credit Matlock continued to battled and went several phases forward before an excellent cross field kick was put to corner with a good chase. The decision to award the try came from a conversation between the cameraman and official but it was a good effort!

The final try of the game was the best as once again a penalty led to Melbourne kicking to the corner securing the ball and moving the ball wide for Andy Martin to score with an excellent finish to a fantastic move taking the score to 17 - 33.

The five point win sees Melbourne extend their lead at the top of Midlands 2 to 17 points. Tough games lie ahead with everyone seeing Melbourne as their Cup Final match and a tricky few fixtures are on the horizon including a tough encounter away at Southwell who have done well at home recently.

TRIES - Chris Rudkin, Oli Saffell, C Livesey, Martin
KICKS - 13 points Euan Holden
MOTM - Chris Rudkin
Y/R CARDS - NA