The match was a big one for Melbourne, only two teams in the pennant have manned up to play Leesbrook this year and in those two games they have scored over 200 points! Melbourne did not want to go the same way

From our cup game last year we know what to expect, big lads running at pace , but with some structure and good fitness, so we were determined to set ourselves up to make a game of it

The team had come together early and Tim had managed to bag some additional talent to bolster the squad. (thanks for everyone for rolling on and off) we did have a few issues, all our normal scrum halves were missing so Gareth Adams stepped up into a position he used to play in juniors, and we were missing a prop, so we pressed Belli into service. With Pip day running from work for the 2nd half. We also saw Dave Baker return after a long lay off .

The final team was

Day, Bob, Angeldis, Bell, Butler, Dudders, Sudders, Dan, Baker, simon brown, lee Roberts, Richardson, Adams, Ellis, Ned, Chan, Hooper, Callahn, Jet Ski Janie Burton, Pez , luke Allsopp and Theo

We wanted to have a team that could challenge the physical side of Leesbrook and went for Chan and Ned in the centres , and a pacey back row,

We kicked off with the wind against us playing towards the old huts.

Seemed our set up and tactics were pretty good, the early engagements were mainly Melbourne with us pushing up fast on Leesbrook and tackling pretty well, Ned and chan were making some good runs. The slightly makeshift front row was holding our own ball and Gareth was doing well at scrum Half.

Ellis was kicking well, and the plan seemed OK. By and large the game was played in the central zone of the pitch,

Our line out was not working well and we lost our fist 5 or 6 , which was a pain

Leesbrook were what we expected but we were matching them

Then came a disastrous ten minutes where effectively the game was lost, Melbourne clearly lost the ref and he gave loads of decisions to Leesbrook who he refused to penalise when then for anything either. Leesbrook effectively got into our 22 following Penalties and even though we cleared the ball, our inability to win our own line out or mess with Leesbrooks meant they came right back at us.

Leesbrook have a muscular and very good hooker who was very good and by and large was able to force himself over the line when required.

Leesbrook scored 3 tries on 11, 16, and 20 minutes , we got angry with the ref which did not help (as did the crowd and management) and generally this was a bleak ten minute

17-0 after 20 minutes and at this rate we were going to join the 100 club with Leesbrooks other opposition

But we steadied the ship, Lee Roberts came on with Dan and things calmed down a bit, the ref seemed to forget his grudge against us and actually gave us a few things, and the line out steadied a bit.

We began to get some territory, lots of good things going on, Ned in the centres was great, Theo was aggressive and very fired up, Chan came off with a sore hip and Richardson went to the centres all in all everyone stepped up

And on 40 minutes the effort was rewarded when from a Leesbrook line out James Angeledis dived on a tapped ball and touched down for his first try in 5 years (his first game for the club at U14’s) 17-5 and we were back in it

Half time and everyone felt we were making a good game of it, I am sure Leesbrook new they were in a proper game and this was no walk over.

At the beginning of the 2nd half Theo made a very good break and found support from Hooper who dived in to make it 17-10

I think things at this moment were probably slightly in Melbourne Favour for the rest of the half we had most of the territory and procession. However we were caught by two sucker punches the first when Sudders did a pass out of the back of his hand (we were surprised) and Leesbrook caught it and ran the length of the pitch to score 24-10 and then an interception where the same thing happened and another try

There was a lot of good things happening for Melbourne, we had good spirit, we found out Lee Roberts could play scrum Half, Pip day came on and wore a pair of shorts that flaunted his bare buttocks in scrums, we also noticed through the rotation of 2nd row that as soon as Dudders came on the scrum was transformed

Pip Day made a very good tackle on the big hooker. Theo kept yelling I bloody love rugby before being aggressive and then bashed his head against a Leesbrook player and needed to come off for stiches

Melbourne did score one in between when from a long period of pressure that involved us being awarded a series of penalties Tim drove over from 5 yards to score

Final score 31-15

Leesbrook beat us fair and square, it was a tough game but they were fair, I hope they feel they were in a good game

Everyone stepped up the intensity and no one backed down at any point Melbourne tried for the full 80, there were lots of maybe’s a few players missing and maybe a few decisions, but I am sure Leesbrook had a few missing as well

After the game we played the first tow rounds of the world Beer Pong Maters and team Dudders won through to the 3rd round in Preston on the 15h of Dec

In other news lots of candidates for Man of the match but it goes to Ned, for all the tackling and the great runs

Next week the last game before Christmas away at Newark, please be available and bring a pal