Four try haul for Howard against Bakewell

Matlock welcomed their old friends and rivals Bakewell to Cromford Meadows for this eagerly awaited local derby. Checking records back as far as 1990-91 the two clubs have found themselves competing in the same league in only one other season before this. That was quite recent in the 2014-15 season when Matlock topped the league and were promoted back to Midlands 1 East. Following that promotion Matlock lost a number of key players and underwent a difficult season and were subsequently relegated back to the current league. Bakewell have suffered a similar fate having won promotion from Midlands 3 East North they too have found the jump up in level to be very demanding on a small squad and arrived at the Meadows still looking for their first league win. Matlock’s team sheet saw a few changes from the previous week. James Young was unavailable so James Fairclough came in at fly half for his first game of the year since his knee op in the summer. With both Dan Hooton and Harry Morton ruled out due to injury Mike Allen switched to inside centre and Luke Howard came back in on the wing. In the pack Tom Wright failed a midweek fitness test on his hamstring so young Conor Loughnane started at loose head. On the bench Mike Gunter made a welcome return to the squad alongside Dave Ball and James Harrod.
From the kick off Matlock played with an energy and intensity that prevented the visitors from settling into the game. In trying to slow down the home side ball Bakewell were penalised and Tom Morton stepped up to convert the early opportunity 3-0. Having been shown suspect under the high ball Bakewell’s right wing was then tested again by Morton’s box kick. The winger misjudged the kick and the loose ball was gathered by Luke Howard who still had some work to do to score the first try. Morton’s conversion attempt was wide 8-0. From the restart Matlock began again on the front foot and after Bakewell had again transgressed at the breakdown Morton kicked to the corner. The catch and drive was good but Bakewell defended it well. Matlock showed patience at the ruck before Morton darted open and passed to Fairclough who picked a good line to make the half break and touch down for a good try. The conversion attempt was again wide 13-0. At this point Matlock appeared to be in complete control of the game. The lineout and scrum were going well and the interplay throughout the side was causing the visitors problems. When Bakewell did get hold of the ball they struggled to make any headway against Matlock’s high intensity defence. On 30 minutes Matlock went further ahead. Bakewell had a defensive 5 metre scrum and Matlock’s pack shoved them off the ball for number 8 Simon Wright to pick up and break away down the blind to stroll over unopposed and score in the corner. The conversion was just wide 18-0. With half time approaching Bakewell attempted to clear their lines. Josh Dixey gathered the kick and ran the ball back at pace, cutting between two defenders before passing to Alex Powell in support who then drew his man before feeding Luke Howard to finish off the move with his second try. Morton added the extras 25-0.
They do say that half time never comes at a good time when you’re on top and so it proved. The half time break gave the visitors the opportunity to regroup and develop a game plan for the second half. The half began and it before long it became a scrappy affair with Bakewell coming more and more into the game aided by Matlock getting on the wrong side of high second half penalty count. Bakewell adopted the tactic of off the ball scuffles to disturb Matlock’s concentration and it was surprisingly effective in so much that the rugby in the second half became less cohesive and with the visitor’s benefitting from the home side’s apparent indiscipline they spent longer periods in the Matlock half. Bakewell’s scrum half Tom Bell came close on two occasions from kick and chase opportunities but Matlock’s cover defence was sharp enough to deny him. Matlock’s Simon Wright was yellow carded for a high tackle and Bakewell made use of the numerical advantage to force a score in the corner after several pick and drive attempts had been repelled. The conversion was wide 25-5. Moments later Matlock went down to 13 men when Conor Loughnane was also sent to the sin bin for not rolling away at the ruck. Matlock dug in for the next ten minutes and resolute defence prevented Bakewell from adding to their score. As the game moved into the last quarter Matlock began to grab back control of the game. Putting together the phases they began to apply pressure on the Bakewell defence. Bakewell’s initial attempts resulted in player coach Ben Wade being shown a yellow card for a punch. Matlock tapped and went again, looking certain to score from pick and driving on the Bakewell line the ball was somehow turned over but rather than kick to the nearest touchline Bakewell decided to kick wide to the open field presumably hoping to find their own winger in space. Unfortunately for them the only player out that wide was Matlock’s Luke Howard who gratefully gathered the ball for a free run into the corner for his third try. The conversion attempt was wide 30-5. Matlock saved the best for the last. From a lineout on the Bakewell 22 a perfectly executed training ground move saw Alex Powell scythe through the Bakewell defence before drawing the last man and passing to Luke Howard, in close support, to race under the posts for his fourth try of the day. Tom Morton added the extras and the referee blew the full time whistle 37-5.
This was another good solid team performance. These local derby games are never easy, passions run high and hearts are worn on sleeves. It was a physical battle between two sides with a mutual respect and off field friendships with both sides giving everything in entertaining a large and vocal crowd. For Matlock it was good to see James Fairclough back in action. Full back Alex Powell had an excellent game, as did Luke Howard and Michael Emmerson’s work rate was outstanding.
Team: Loughnane C, Jackson C, Stokes T, Atkinson C, Cruttenden T, Braund P, Emmerson M, Wright S, Morton T, Fairclough J, Howard L, Allen M, Boyd H, Dixey J, Powell A
Bench: Ball D, Harrod J, Gunter M

Matlock now have two big games in the run into the Christmas break. Next week, 9th December, they travel to play Coalville and on the 16th December they entertain Dronfield at Cromford Meadows. Both games will kick off at 2.15pm