Lincoln U14 33 pts Matlock U14 0 pts

Lincoln U14 33 pts Matlock U14 0 pts

The first thing I will say is that the score line doesn’t reveal everything about this game in which Matlock Dominated the forward play and possession and Lincoln’s fluidity with the ball throughout but in particular the backs took full advantage of opportunities.

The game began with a tremendous kick off by Clarke bouncing the ball into touch 5 metres from the Lincoln line. Not sure what happened to subsequent kick offs though? Lincoln lobbed the ball to the middle where Stephenson grabbed the ball eagerly and drove at the line only to be held up for a scrum. From here Stephenson went blind over the line and fell with the ball tucked between his chest and the ground over the line only for the ref to disappointingly not give the obvious score because he was in the wrong position. However Matlock kept up the pressure with several more close attacks but Lincoln defended well and cleared their lines a little with kicks into the wind. So After 10 minutes there was no score and the ball had hardly moved out of the Lincoln 22. Perhaps realising the folly of kicking into the wind Lincoln’s centre ran the ball and broke through the defence making his way to the Matlock 22 where he was caught by the back tracking of Wallis and Burns. However the Lincoln support was ahead of Matlock’s and after a couple of quick breakdowns dived over to the left of the posts with the kick being successful.

Thus the pattern of the game was set, Matlock would drive strongly and successfully in the forwards but make little progress in the backs and Lincoln would run with good handling an fluidity at Matlock’s backs who would for the majority of the time hold firm but on occasion it would just prove too much for the inexperienced line up. Twice this led to the Lincoln winger being put free into space on the left and racing in to score. The goal kicking from Lincoln was excellent and both these trys from fairly wide on the left into a breeze were converted. Matlock’s pressure was kept up with kicks into the corners as Lincoln’s main answer to Matlock’s forward dominance was to get hands in or go off their feet. Some of which the referee did seem to miss. The coaches have questioned why the practiced penalty moves were not used when in the Lincoln 22 and as yet no satisfactory answer has been received. The suspicion is a lack of confidence had crept in despite being on top in the forwards.

Matlock at no stage gave up but were finding it difficult under pressure to change the point of attack from forwards to backs with Lincoln’s defence being strong and well organised. This is an area we as a back line can and will improve with experience on looking at running lines, holding defenders and making it difficult to be tackled. . As in chess a little misdirection and forward planning can produce opportunities. However we do need to keep practicing handling whilst going forward. I am confident that it will come and the excellent potential of this new back line will turn into reality. They are made up of strong runners and brave tacklers but just lack the experience and know how of the more advanced players in the NLD.

Half time arrived with Matlock trailing 21-0 facing a second half up hill against the wind. The team were determined and prepared to go for it looking to correct some of the wayward passes and poor ball retention in order to try and keep Lincoln out of the game. Calamity though as the kick off took an unkind bounce off the shoulder of Stephenson and straight into the potent arms of the Lincoln backs who took advantage of the lucky break and scored in the corner. The conversion from the touchline was just missed but the worst restart that could have befallen Matlock. Through continued determination and good tackling Matlock took the game to Lincoln and were rewarded with more penalties and close encounters with the try line. Still they refused penalty moves and slowly simply passed the ball to a stationary player to take the ball in. Really this tactic was unfathomable. Lincoln’s defence held out and they were able to relieve the pressure more easily down hill with the wind. Kicking deep into the Matlock half where Wragg did a good job of collecting the ball and running it back with the help particularly of Wallis. Lincoln had a little more territory mid way through the half but on a couple of occasions kicked the ball away and gave possession back to Matlock. Sometimes when you play with the wind the easy option is to kick when in fact running the ball into the wind had been successful so why wouldn’t it be with the wind?

Having defended well for 20 minutes in the second half Matlock bought a dummy in the centre and despite some excellent covering by Wallis the Lincoln man was able to scramble the last few yards over the line near the posts. The inevitable conversion finishing the scoring 33 pts to Nil.

Still Matlock huffed and puffed but couldn’t manage to blow the house down. Sometimes it takes a long time to find and be able to exploit opportunities but as Matlock continue to learn they will become better at this. With around five minutes to go the most surreal event of the season when Hall received a yellow card after losing his temper, having been wound up all game by the opposition, and playing the drum solo “in the Air tonight” on the back of an opponent. As usual it is the retaliator that gets punished. Matlock finished with 14 players but continued to give little away.

A performance to be pleased with but one that also showed the areas we need to work on. That is the benefit of playing better teams.

Let’s think about the good play we did and the areas we need to improve. Come to training and work hard and let’s make sure we keep improving also to all replacements, start to put pressure on those that currently get picked to start these NLD games.

If you read this please add a comment if you were at the game.