Matlock welcomed fellow promotion chasers Coalville to Cromford Meadows with the weather surprisingly clement given the heavy precipitation seen during the morning hours. There was a fairly stiff breeze blowing to the tunnel corner but otherwise playing conditions were perfect. The away fixture had already shown there was little to separate these two sides with both teams playing a similar brand of rugby. Coalville snatched a draw in the dying seconds under very questionable circumstances and Matlock came away from that game with a sense of injustice and deep frustration. The winners of this return fixture would likely remain top of the league with guaranteed promotion to Midlands 1 East whilst the losers would be left facing a play-off game against the Midlands 2 East South runners up for the third promotion place. In the unlikely event of the match being drawn, Coalville with a match in hand would gain the upper hand over Matlock. To avoid the lottery of a play-off game both sides desperately needed to win this one.
For this most important game of the season Matlock found themselves once again having to make enforced changes to the line-up. With Dan Hooton breaking his thumb in the Bakewell game and with Kawalek and Tom Morton also unavailable a reshuffle of the backline saw Coombes drop from back row to inside centre and Neville stepping into the thirteen channel. Whittaker was asked to step out to the wing allowing Fairclough to carry on at fullback. Importantly the link partnership of Ritchie and Hartley remained unchanged from the previous week. The pack was also affected by change, with none of the recognised tight heads available Richardson, Boam and Tom Wright made up the front row. With the resurgent Tim Taylor away and Atkinson out with a pulled hamstring, Twyford and a less than 100% fit Robinson made up the engine room. Wagg, Crofts and Simon Wright made up the back row. Considering the long list of absentees, Buckley, Cooper and Noble made up a strong and reliable bench.
In front of a large well fed and partisan home crowd, Matlock, who had lost the toss, kicked off with the wind at their backs and soon had the visitors on the back foot. In these early exchanges Coalville showed poor discipline around the breakdown and also crept offside regularly. Three penalties in as many minutes saw Matlock with a line out deep in the Coalville twenty two. A training ground move saw a peel round the front culminating in the ubiquitous Richardson going over in the corner. The conversion attempt fell short. From the restart Matlock failed to control the ball giving Coalville the first scrum ball. Coalville picked up and ran through two further phases and took advantage of some poor fringe defence to manufacture a good score in the corner. The conversion was well struck and the visitors were 5-7 ahead with only seven minutes gone. From this point the game became something of a battle of attrition in the middle third of the pitch with neither side able to exert any real authority over the other. Simon Wright was forced to leave the field after picking up a stinger and this brought the powerful frame of James Cooper into the fray. Matlock were struggling to win good go forward ball. Without the usual strong platform of a dominating scrummage Matlock were finding it difficult to attack off the back foot and Coalville’s spoiling tactics and constant flaunting of the offside laws at the breakdown also prevented the home side playing with any real fluency, pace and intensity. As a consequence Matlock’s growing anxiety led to poor control and some unusual hesitancy and indecision. On thirty minutes Coalville extended their lead to 5-12 with an unconverted try in the scoreboard corner after some rather inept defending. Stung by this setback Matlock were straight back on the attack. A ruck on the Coalville ten metre line saw Matlock break blind and James Cooper opened the doors by bursting through two defenders and drawing the fullback before passing to Wagg who raced under the posts. The conversion was added and scores were level 12-12 and all to play for.
The second half began with both sides vying to gain control and advantage over the other. The Matlock scrum was really under pressure but the lineout was working well which meant the home side at least had some good set ball to play off. However the visitors were enjoying a good scrum platform and the go forward ball that comes with that. Also they used the wind well to keep Matlock pinned in their own half. After 50 minutes Coalville worked space for a good score in the corner and the conversion bounced back off the post. No-one knew how crucial that would prove to be. Five minutes later Coalville’s lead was extended to 12-20 when Matlock were penalised for not rolling away.
Matlock then began to show the character and resolve which has seen them dog out a few wins this season when the odds seemed to be stacked against them. A period of good control and ball retention saw Coalville again getting on the wrong side of the referee and the Coalville flyhalf was shown the yellow card for constantly being offside. Matlock decided to tap and go and it looked like Cooper had forced his way over near the posts but the referee decided otherwise and a resulting knock on gave Coalville the opportunity to clear. From the scrum Matlock put good pressure on the fullback which brought about a line out inside the visitors twenty two. A variation on the line out peel saw Richardson go over for his second try. The conversion was wide leaving the score at 17-20. Matlock now had the bit between their teeth and the tension on the touchline was enough to drive the home crowd to drink or rather more drink given the game had been preceded by a VPs lunch. Buoyed on by the encouragement from the touchline Matlock grew in confidence and belief and conjured up a great score. With play just inside Coalville’s half Hartley made a great break passed to Coombes who took the tackle and flung a pass out which bounced up kindly for Neville who in turn offloaded in the tackle to Fairclough who weaved his way over for the try. Whittaker’s conversion was sweetly struck and sailed through the uprights and against the odds Matlock were 24-20 ahead with 8 minutes remaining. Coalville though would not surrender and from the kick off Matlock failed to clear their lines. This allowed Coalville to mount one more attack and with Wagg in the sin bin they eventually made use of the numerical advantage to score in the tunnel corner. Again crucially the conversion attempt was unsuccessful but the visitors were now 24-25 ahead and with little time left seemed to have snatched the victory. The Matlock kick off and chase was excellent. The catcher was tackled to ground and Crofts was first player to get hands on. The tackled player held on desperately and illegally and the referee blew for the penalty, thirty five yards out in front of the posts. Whittaker stepped up to take the kick with the hopes and expectations of all his team-mates and home supporters weighing heavy on his shoulders. Some of us could hardly bare to watch. Silence descended on Cromford Meadows, with almost certain promotion for either side resting on this one kick. Whittaker stepped forward and struck the ball which sailed between the posts to the whoops and cheers of the Matlock collective. Matlock were ahead 27-25. Coalville raced to kick off but Matlock were not going to let this go now and held out during the last play until the final whistle blew on this thoroughly enticing and nail biting match.
Considering the changes to the side and the very unusual lack of stability in the scrum this was a great win which epitomises the character, will and never say die attitude within the whole squad. We must spare a thought for Coalville who were so close to victory themselves and if the remaining results go with form we look forward to seeing them in Midlands 1 East next season. In order to achieve the automatic promotion that they have worked so hard for Matlock must now win their last league match away to Dronfield on 11th April kick off 3.00pm.