The rain had stopped and wind ceased by the time we congregated at sunny Cromford and for once some good news as Stephenson had been declared fit after his broken jaw. However being only a mile from the birth place of Florence Nightingale seemed to be having an influence as there were more sick notes than in the Crimea. With due diligence and expert medical analysis all were happy in the end to give it a go. The only real changes to the usual squad was to use the versatility of Buswell to play his county position of hooker and Stephenson to move from the forwards to centre , perhaps for one game only, the position he last occupied as an U9. It was felt not knowing the opposition that this would spread our strength and in particular tackling ability better.

For the first time we were to play on the first XV pitch still in good condition despite the earlier game. Matlock received the kick but were immediately picked up by the referee for an infringement only he understood. This continued until Matlock found themselves defending 5 metres from their line having been penalised 4 or 5 times without really understanding why. The staccato nature of the refereeing would stamp it’s way throughout the game some times hindering Matlock but on other occasions helping. Initially it was definitely aiding Spalding who looked organised and had a plan. Matlock rebuffed the initial forward drives of the visitors with sound tackling and were contesting the breakdowns evenly. They were finding it a little difficult to clear their lines , except for one excellent touch find by Clarke. Generally on the big pitch though importantly finding touch were remaining in their 22. Spalding after a couple of attempts to outflank Matlock received the put in at another 5 metre scrum and powerfully forced their way over from a back row surge. The kick was wide but Matlock knew what they had to do and went back to half way in determined mood.
From the kick off Spalding knocked on which gave Matlock good territory for the first time. They supplied their own legato movement with good handling from the half backs and precision passing accenting in the centre creating the space for Burns to race through the gap and round the fullback and as it turned out importantly between the posts for Clarke to add the 2 points. The next 5 minutes showed that the teams were well matched with “tooing and froing” in the forward battle but neither pack ever taking charge. Matlock’s pack was disrupted at this stage as Hall’s illness and knock to his neck proved too much and was replaced by Johnson going to hooker, Buswell to the back row, Garratt to prop and Hatton to lock.. However this change had been envisaged and shouldn’t have a great effect. The contest stalemate was next broken again by the impressive Burns who’s pace and strength once again stood him apart as he raced 50+ metres round the desperately scrambling defence which couldn’t get to him and crucially again failed to keep him out wide with Clarke again adding 2 points. The pattern of the game seemed set with Spalding trying to take command in the forwards balanced with snipes from the fly half and attempted loops by the back three. However Matlock for the main were a match up front and stronger and more dangerous in the backs. Spalding realising this had moved to a more pressing defence in the backs which helped diffuse the Matlock attacks. The next attack came from a typical dummy scissors by Hartley who having made a half break passed the ball a little early, rather than going the whole way through the gap he had created, to Doyle on the wing who was tackled into touch by the last of the Spalding defence.

Half time seemed to soon arrive with the score 14 pts to 5 in Matlock’s favour. Matlock were worthy of the lead having shown strong defence in not allowing Spalding to gain ground and also competing well in the set pieces particularly the lineout to win their share of the ball. The half time chat was about keeping concentration for the whole half and continuing in the same way looking to take any opportunities and think about keeping the game in Spalding territory because Spalding were unlikely to score from deep.

The second half began at a hectic pace with Spalding in determined mood running the kick off back at Matlock. Once again they were being matched by Matlock with Stephenson and Wragg in the centre not allowing any progress for their backs and Doyle, Wallis and Burns out wide covering any attempts to out flank them. It was obvious Spalding had put a lot of emphasis on pressuring the Matlock back line with the rush defence which was preventing the ball getting wide as often. However Matlock to their credit realised this and changed tactic with a couple of kicks over the on coming defence which on two occasions nearly lead to tries with Wragg and Doyle arriving just too late or short. For Matlock it was about gaining experience of not making mistakes whilst still trying to play rugby. Spalding were going to have to push for everything which I feel is what they did with their forwards trying to up the tempo making ground only to be rebuffed by excellent defence. Their backs couldn’t find a way through or round either but a missed touch by Matlock from a penalty, a cardinal sin in rugby, gave the ball in prime position to Spalding on the half way line, Matlock for the second week running a little lazily chased the kick and only in ones and twos. This enabled Spalding to make their way across and up the pitch to within a few metres where after some period of pressure drove over to score and added the 2 points to make it a one score game. There was around 10 minutes to go. Who would come out on top? Spalding perhaps a little more together in the forwards but Matlock always dangerous with ball in hand both forwards and backs.Buswell was industrious and his commitment is key to the team as is the technical ability of and returned desire of Braund. Most of the rest of the game was played around midfield and Spalding territory with some good handling moves including one excellent run by Hatton in returning a drop out and also Wragg and Wallis almost combining but for the eagle eyed (so called for the distance from which he was looking not the sharpness) ref to pull them back for a forward pass. However as is customary Spalding had a chance after they clawed their way in to the Matlock 22 and after another missed touch by Matlock placed a period of pressure on their defence which held true. Even when a penalty was given against them they stood up to the onslaught until finally they broke away from their own line with the guts to pass and run the ball, maybe a sign of the inconsistent kicking, Wallis looked clear having gone around his winger but the covering defence manage to sweep across and get him in to touch around the 22 metre line. The ref managed to arrive only to fall on his backside which did bring some cheer to players and spectators alike. After a small period of midfield play with Matlock keeping the ball tight including strong efforts by Wright, Garratt, Savage and Hamiltyon-Cody the referee brought a first encounter between these two teams to an end with Matlock just ahead. Spalding perhaps ruing not attempting to kick the penalty they had in the Matlock 22. But who knows what would have happened if they had tried.

For Matlock it was very satisfying that we can compete at this new level , excellent to see the commitment of every player in contact and perhaps a little move forward in game management and the ability to adapt. As always there is still a lot to work on. Thanks to all the squad players that didn’t make the pitch and I look forward to having everyone at next weeks training and matches for the first time of the year. Welcome back Harry S and thanks for doing so in the unusual position of centre. Maybe scrum half is on the agenda after all. This was a real team performance borne out of the hard work and togetherness built up in earlier games and obviously a little sprinkling of stardust from the previous nights dreams.
Well done everyone and thanks.

Thanks also to Spalding for making the long journey and their generosity in support and defeat.It was a very closely contested game between two closely matched teams who wanted to and generally managed when the ref allowed them to play rugby.

Tries Burns 2
Cons Clarke 2

Match details

Match date

Sun 07 Nov 2010

Kickoff

11:00

Team overview