Matlock snatch late victory again

Matlock travelled to the canal side home of Casuals in pensive mood on the back of a poor display the previous week which saw them snatch a very late victory. There were a couple of changes to the starting line-up. With Twyford unavailable due to a back injury Simon Wright moved from back row to join brother Tom in the engine room. Harry Stephenson began at hooker and Luke Crofts started at No 8. Behind the pack Ritchie was give the nod at scrum half whilst Neville moved back into the centre allowing Kawalek to start on the wing. Tom Morton, Ball and Jackson made up the bench.

Right from the kick off it seemed Matlock were still sat in the changing room as no-one claimed the ball which ran harmlessly into touch around the Matlock 22. The early exchanges highlighted a lack of energy about Matlock’s game in particular a worrying slackness in defence around the fringes. This proved costly for the visitors as twice the visitors fell off tackles to allow the home side to build some momentum and belief, and put themselves under unnecessary pressure. With only twelves minutes gone Casuals had taken advantage of the visitor’s apparent apathy in defence to build a 10-0 lead courtesy of a converted try and penalty for a dubious high tackle. Matlock began to play with more purpose and pace but little errors and an enthusiastic Casuals defence made for slow progress. On 18 minutes the visitors lifted the intensity again moving the ball from deep Dan Hooton cut back from the wing finding Ritchie in support who went to ground in the tackle. A Casuals player entered the ruck from the side and the referee marched them back a further ten yards for back chat. The penalty was kicked to towards the corner where the line out catch was clean and the Matlock pack drove back their heavier counterparts like a steam train for Wagg to touch down for the try. The conversion attempt fell short. The resurgence was short-lived as on 23 minutes another poor tackle around the ruck allowed the Casuals player to breach the defence and reach the Matlock 22 before being stopped by the reliable Whittaker. Neville found himself trapped on the wrong side of the ruck and was very unlucky to be shown a yellow card. Casuals converted the penalty for a 13-5 lead. Only minutes later Matlock went further behind. A ruck on the Matlock 22 saw Casuals move the ball quickly through hands before their centre attempted a chip through but the ball rebounded off a Matlock defender then back off the Casuals player allowing them to retain possession. The ball was quickly recycled to the blind side where they had the overlap for the winger to score. The conversion from out wide was successful and a shell-shocked Matlock found themselves 20-5 down with luck now also seeming to have deserted them. Despite these setbacks Matlock continued to believe in their ability and style of play and a great passage of play orchestrated by Dave Hartley and following strong carries by both Coombes and Richardson resulted in a penalty in front of the posts. Whittaker converted to make the score 20-8. Matlock’s ill fortune continued as towards the end of the first half Neville picked up a second yellow card for offside at the ruck leaving Matlock down to fourteen men for the rest of the game. A second Whittaker penalty just before halftime saw them turn round facing a 9 point deficit with a score at 20-11.
The opening minutes of the second half saw Matlock struggling to maintain any momentum as decisions at the breakdown continued to go the way of the opposition. From a penalty around half way Casuals kicked into the Matlock 22 and at the line out their jumper was unnecessarily impeded. The resulting penalty kick saw Casuals increase the lead to 23-11. Matlock stuck manfully to the task and eventually there was a noticeable change as the urgency of the situation brought about possibly the best twenty minutes rugby of their season so far. Stephenson and Howard made way for Ball and Morton with Ritchie moving out to the wing. With Hartley instrumental from fly-half and Hooton somehow managing to push through the pain barrier to hold together the defensive line the tide began to change. Matlock lifted the intensity, playing with pace, power and passion and the forwards began to take the game to their now tiring opponents. On 63 minutes a Matlock attack resulted in a five metre scrum and the pack drove Casuals back towards the line almost with ease. Casuals collapsed the scrum and Matlock scrummed again this time picking up and going for the line. A desperate Casuals pack transgressed again. Matlock continued to batter a brave Casuals defence and eventually Crofts forced his way over for an unconverted try 23-16. With time on their side Casuals could sense an upset and two minutes later increased their lead to 26-16 through another penalty when Matlock were penalised for holding on when trying to play out of their own 22. However Matlock’s belief and hunger was now evident as they began attacking from all parts of the pitch. A stretched and tiring home side picked up a yellow card as they attempted to slow down Matlock’s quicker ball. Matlock began to take quick taps keeping up the intensity and pace. Hartley passed to Hooton who cut through a gap and offloaded superbly to Richardson in support. The ball was quickly recycled to Hartley and his beautiful delayed pass put Crofts through half a gap and his pace and power took him over the line for a great score. Whittaker added the extras to make it 26-23 with ten minutes left on the clock. Now it was all Matlock and Casuals were fighting hard to hang on picking a second yellow card in their efforts to do so. From inside their own half Matlock moved the ball quickly creating space on the outside for the fleet-footed Whittaker who was stopped just short of the line and couldn’t quite get the pass away to Hartley supporting on the inside. Casuals cleared the lines but only for Ritchie to run the ball back. From the ruck Matlock broke blind Hartley passing to Coombes who used his power and pace to carry some thirty yards leaving four would be defenders in his wake and despite being finally stopped just short of the line managed to offload to Simon Wright in support to crash over for a try. The conversion attempt was wide but with four minutes remaining Matlock now led 26-28. A resolute and determined Matlock defence then denied Casuals any opportunity to snatch the lead back and as Casuals attempted to cross halfway with the last play of the match Hooton stripped the ball from the centres grasp before kicking the ball off the field. The final whistle brought the game to an end with Matlock deserved winners after a pulsating twenty minute spell of rugby.

This was a special victory in many ways but it was another get out of jail performance for the second consecutive week. If we can start every game the way we finished this one, with passion, pace, power and control, then the results will take care of themselves.

Next week the squad have a break in the league campaign and an opportunity to rest some niggling injuries. The next game is at home on 21st February against Stamford kick off 2.15pm