Matlock U14 14pts Melbourne U14 46 pts

Matlock U14 14pts Melbourne U14 46 pts

Matlock went into this game looking to turn around the close defeat of the opening game of the season. Despite not playing rugby since 21st November a couple of training sessions had been positive and a reasonably confident coach sent out a strong Matlock team with only one significant absentee.

Matlock chose to receive the kick to gain possession. With the ball not going ten a scrum was awarded to the home team in the centre of the pitch. A position we had practiced several moves. With a change at number 8 the back row move was a little less oiled than expected but Matlock kept possession and moved the ball to the backs where Ellis was playing his first game of rugby since U9 having returned from the darkside. It soon became clear to the backs that running against the strong Melbourne defence was not as easy as unopposed at training as they were solidly knocked to the floor. However Matlock did very well to retain possession and were able to attempt more attacks left and right but didn’t manage to break through. Eventually Matlock made a mistake and Melbourne gained the ball. There immediate response to move it to the centres who would challenge the Matlock defence which unfortunately and surprisingly gave way at the first attempt with Melbourne running in a try to take a 5 point lead. Matlock now had to kick trhe ball back to Melbourne who showed good ability to make ground in the forwards but once again in moving the ball wide found the Matlock defence wanting with a similar break through rather timid defence and a lack of corner flagging from the rest. Again the kick missed and again Matlock had to kick the ball back to Melbourne who at this stage rightly sought to rub salt into the wound and with the defence tightening up slightly forced a chip and chase which looked covered by a couple of Matlock defenders but both of whom left it to the other allowing the determined attacker to burst through the middle of them as the ball bounced kindly into his hands. So half way through the first half Melbourne were in a 17 point lead. The Matlock coach remaining fairly speechless because what was on his tongue shouldn’t be heard on a Sunday morning touchline. However a few words of advice were given but in the end it is down to the players as they are the ones that play. It required more aggression upfront a greater desire to compete throughout and to pull together for each other. To their credit Matlock did this and with good forward drives were able to make ground and put pressure on the Melbourne defence. Line outs were being won as Melbourne used the boot to clear danger and Matlock kept the pressure on. However too often too many forwards decided to look for glory standing in the backs leaving too big a task for the likes of Hamilton Cody and Braund and Hatton to win enough good ball. When the pack got together as a pack of 8 they did good work and were threatening. It was from one such drive that the ball was eventually grounded by Wright and superbly converted by Walker from the left hand touchline. Matlock continued to press for the rest of the half mainly through the forwards. The backs were running hard but starting from too narrow and flat. They also ignored the option of the kick and chase as the Melbourne full back was always in the defensive line. This despite a message being relayed onto the pitch from the coach. Matlock’s defence must have sured up as Melbourne didn’t manage to break the defence again in the half which finished with Hartley being stopped just short of the line from a blind side break from the scrum. Half time Matlock were 10 pts down.

At Half time several replacements were made which with respect to everyone was going to make it difficult to turn things round and it would be unfair to judge the less experienced players against such opposition. So I won’t apart from say that in general they all gave of their best and some of the performances were notably good. I thought Hunt got himself involved well in tackling strong opposition and Simpson and Firth handled well at half back.
In all the 10 replacements disrupted the Matlock game to such an extent that Melbourne were bale to run in several tries. I thought that during this stage of the game some of the more experienced Matlock players were looking unfit and perhaps didn’t put the full effort in. I accept it was difficult but when things get tough you have a choice to make. Not everyone I thought chose wisely. Andy Wallis was noticeable by his constant covering and tackling throughout the match and mentioned by the Melbourne coaches. He also had some good attacking runs and with a little more experience and confidence to go for the corner will become a fine player.

The last action of the game and my Champagne moment came as Braund after making two consecutive tackles got to his feet grabbed the ball and then ran some thirty metres to touch down to the right of the posts capping another excellent performance by himself who HAD chosen wisely. Once again the conversion was struck well and successfully this time by Simpson.

The final score was Matlock 14 Melbourne 46.

In summary it was a good lesson for the backs to realise that they need to practice more and better, the forwards need to remember they are forwards and do forwards work, the whole team need to think more tactically about what is and isn’t working and make decisions accordingly. Responsibility needs to be taken by more senior players and the newcomers need to not get dis-heartened , keep trying and improve. For some it was a baptism of fire against some strong players.