Melbourne lose to league leaders

Match Report By Michael Lowery

Saturday saw Melbourne play one of the toughest games of the season. For the first time in living memory the green army made the long and arduous journey to Spalding. After a first half that saw a real war of attrition, Spalding held a 10-0 lead that reflected Melbournes tenacious defensive work. Unfortunately as the sun came out in the second half Spalding seemed to change gear. Strong mauls and quality handling soon opened the gap in the score line. Melbourne rallied and produced some of the best attacking rugby of the season to take the score to 36-10. However it would be Spalding that had the last word and the game finished 41-10. Notable performances from would be back row Mark Coyne and Matt 'I won't last the 80' 'Champagn...e Rugby' Smith gave some positive talking points. However it was Ashley Stringer who stole the show with some strong running lines and ironman esq defence to take the much sought after and prestigious double; Ian Masters MoM & Spalding MoM.

Key issues:

We need to stop mauls earlier.
Let the NLF keep interceptions.
We need to work on our nose position during contact.