4th Annual Matlock 10's

The 4th annual Matlock 10’s tournament took place at Cromford Meadows last Saturday where the spectators were provided with entertaining and exciting fast paced rugby throughout the day from 10am to 5pm. The teams taking part included two each from Matlock, Burton and the current cup holders Paviors from Nottingham. Teams were also entered from Lincoln, Buxton, LPR Manchester, Bakewell Mannerians, Notts Medics, Durham Occasionals, Derby, BRM 10s, Team Rugger and Here on the Lash 10’s who despite the name were soon noted as serious contenders for the cup. The pool stages began with convincing wins for Matlock A and Here on the Lash whilst Pirates (aka Paviors A) managed a close victory over a promising young Derby side and Mannerians, making a very welcome first appearance at the tournament, pulled off a great victory over Burtons A side. Matlocks A side was awash with pace and with the forwards supplying good quick the ball the backs were able to cut loose scoring some scintillating tries and through great defence conceded only one try in the pool stages. Mannerians also won their group in style posting the highest score of the day 73 – 5 against Matlock’s B side which to be fair was built more for comfort than speed, but stuck manfully to the task all day! The other two group winners were Here on the Lash and Pirates. They were joined in the quarter finals by group runners up BRM10s, Derby, Burton and Plunderers (aka Paviors B). The other teams went into the plate quarterfinals where Buxton beat Matlock B, Lincoln beat LPR Manchester, Burton B beat Durham and Medics had a narrow victory over Team Rugger, a side made up of mostly occasional players from Matlock.
In the main cup quarter finals there were narrow victories for Derby over Bakewell 19-12, Pirates over Burton A 17-7 and Here on the Lash over BRM 10s 12-10. Matlock’s quarter final match saw them gain a comfortable victory over Plunderers by 46-0 with speedsters Powell, Packard, Neville, Cook and Buckley all getting on the score sheet.
At semi-final stage the plate saw wins for Burton2 over Buxton and Medics over Lincoln. The main cup semi finals saw Pirates defeat Here on the Lash and Matlock gain a close fought victory over Derby by 17-10 with tries from Packard, Neville and Buckley.
The plate final between Burton B and Medics was a close fought affair which went right to the wire. With scores tied at full time the game went into sudden death with Medics sealing the victory with a drop goal.
The scene was now set for the final of the main competition hosts Matlock A against holders Pirates. Matlock had played some sparkling rugby on their way to the final but had apparently saved the champagne rugby for the final. From the kick off Pirates were under pressure in both set and loose play and forced into making errors which Matlock were swift to punish. A shell-shocked Pirates side found themselves 19-0 down by halftime and in the second half Matlock continued to dominate finishing worthy winners by a score of 31-10.
This was a great start for the new coaching setup. The victory highlighted the importance of good skills, alongside pace, high fitness levels and great positive attitude from the whole squad.
The next two weeks will see the continued build up to the new season with trips to Burton (13th August) and Camphill (20th August)