Mansfield 24 Matlock 20

Matlock made the short journey to Mansfield with much anticipation following last week’s strong display.

There were a couple of enforced changes to the starting line-up. With Mark Rollinson and Alex Powell unavailable, James Noble made the long journey from Bristol to fill the vacant second row berth and Dave Hartley came in at full-back.

Mansfield began by putting the kick-off out on the full. Matlock won the ensuing scrum on halfway, feeding the ball to Young who set the pattern for the first half by putting in a probing kick deep into Mansfield territory.

For the majority of the half, it was Matlock who looked the most dangerous and came close to scoring on a couple of occasions but couldn’t finish off promising moves. Young put Matlock ahead with a penalty and soon added another to give Matlock a 6-0 lead.

An audacious Young drop goal attempt from 40 yards out looked like adding to Matlock’s tally but bounced back off the bar. Matlock had enjoyed most of the possession and the territory but with 35 minutes gone Mansfield mounted a strong attack.

The Matlock defence appeared to be holding firm but the referee astounded the visiting crowd by singling out Young for the sin bin. This momentarily distracted the Matlock defensive mindset and Mansfield worked space to score a try. The conversion was missed.

For the first five minutes of the second half, Matlock hung on to their lead as Mansfield upped the intensity.

Equal numbers were restored with Young’s return but for the next 20 minutes Matlock had little territory or possession as Mansfield mounted a series of attacks, scoring three tries and two conversions.

With ten minutes remaining, Matlock were shaken out of their stupor and began to play some trademark rugby. The reward came with a try out wide for Buckley after good work from Hartley. Young added the conversion.

With little time remaining, Matlock kept forging forward for another score which came when quick second phase ball was moved to Mackrell who ran a great line to crash over under the posts. Young added the conversion, taking the score to 24-20, and with the referee declaring the kick-off the last play, Mansfield kicked out on the full.

The decision should have been a scrum to Matlock but the official blew for full-time. Another narrow defeat and bitter pill to swallow, but a good away bonus point which saw Matlock rise one place in the table.

This Saturday, Matlock entertain Bedford Athletic who are having a mixed season after coming down from the National Three Division.

Another home win this week could see Matlock rise further up the table and with more squad players due back from injury, the competition for places should add a further edge to everyone’s game.