Melbourne lose to strong Coalville side - match Ball sponsored by Dave Smith of National Forest Spring Water

Melbourne kicked off their League campaign with the arrival of Coalville. The match ball was sponsored by Dave Smith of National Forest Spring Water.
The game was played in front of a healthy crown on a lovely September afternoon.
Melbourne saw the return of Matt Smith at hooker and saw Rob Hollingsworth (to his dismay) being moved up to 2nd row crisis this week. Devo Iliffe played scrum half. Melbourne kicked off and shaded the first couple of minutes which included a penalty kick at goal which Jack Fisher narrowly missed. The first scrum saw a free kick conceded for ‘feeding’ and Coalville started to exert control. 2 big props saw the Melbourne front 3 have a hard time. An early Penalty saw a Coalville lineout in the corner – Melbourne disrupted with a fine clearance kick from James Edgar under pressure. After 10 minutes Coalville opened the scoring.
Melbourne pressed minutes later with a penalty kick, but lost the subsequent line out.
Coalville had the better of the rest of the half. A break up the RHS saw Euan Holden yellow carded for receiving the pass whilst returning to an on side position. From The following scrum option, Melbourne disrupted and cleared lines, but the number advantage told as Coalville scored a try for an 8-0 lead. Theo had slotted into fly half as Fish had hurt his shoulder and Theo made ground from a couple of tapped penalties.
Coalville continued to dominate. Michael Lowery stole a great ball, only for his offload to be ruled forward, Devon forced a great turnover. Coalville increased their lead on 34mins with a sharply taken try from their scrum half. 0-15
On the stroke of half time, Melbourne reduced the deficit with a Euan Holden penalty – 3-15.
Melbourne played a lot better in the second half, where their superior fitness especially in the forwards showed. However Coalville had the most threatening runners with their scrum half and fullback.
After 54 minutes Rob Foster was held up after a lovely cross field kick was taken by Rob and the full back. Advantage was being played and Melbourne opted for the corner only to knock on.
48 minutes saw a mass punch up in the Coalville in goal area. Euan received a second yellow (for holding someone back?) to get a red and Joe Stuart and the Coalville centre both had straight reds for continuing their spat for a while after the whistle. Melbourne being a man down responded superbly. Jack Fisher was back on and playing at 10, controlled the next 10 minutes and eventually pressure told with Devon Iliffe making the break to offload to Ash Stringer to score under the posts. Fish converted for 10-15. Minutes later Morris Hall popped out of a maul with the ball and Smith fed Pop – who knocked with a 40 meter run in (possibly) guaranteed.
Coalville’s extra man told with another score from their full back 10-20.
Fisher reduced the deficit on 6 minutes with a penalty 13-20. The Coalville scrum half replied for Coalville. 2 late yellow cards were shown to Coalville players to make it 13 v 12. The final score went to Coalville on the whistle.
13 – 34
Melbourne MOTM – Michael Lowery
A tough game and the Melbourne players certainly gave their all – lots to be positive about. With a strong showing in the seconds and some injured players to come back all looks good. Melbourne should take heart from their commitment and a much improved display on the previous week.