It was unfortunate that the absence of several key Matlock players prevented this from being a hard fought and well contested game. Rotherham arrived looking eager and hungry for action in their pre match routines. Matlock were fitting round pegs into square holes but still felt reasonably happy that they could compete. However it was soon evident that this Matlock team would struggle mainly because of a relative lack of power , speed and strength. From the start Matlock looked nervous knocking on the kick off and giving the impetus to Rotherham. Matlock managed to stave the first attack and moved into opposition territory but when the ball was moved wide strong running and some feeble tackling saw Rotherham open the scoring. From the kick off Matlock pressured the opposition and were showing good signs of ball retention. The champagne moment for Matlock occurred when a pre planned penalty move saw Rotherham take Savages dummy run and Hatton loped over in the corner with a 30 yard run. The kick was missed and unfortunately for Matlock it was the last real part they played in the game. Out sized and paced Matlock struggled to get the ball and then retain it and more so found it difficult to set up a defence. Too many were being sucked into breakdowns rather than staying out to defend the gain line when the ball was lost. Wave after wave of attacks resulted in numerous tries.

In the difficult situation it was pleasing to see Hartley making some strong runs and making good ground from his unusual birth at stand off whilst Ellis did the same in the centre only they had little support from else where. Some noticeable effort and technique in the forwards and in particular from Garratt and Braund was pleasing. It would have been easy for Matlock to give in but the endeavour remained most of the time but all squad players have to realise that they must get themselves involved in the game which includes tackling and supporting. It was a little annoying to see players stood watching as the opposition ran. I’ll put it down to naivety rather than lack of will, for now.

In summary with a full squad It would be a good game against Rotherham and on yesterday’s performance the result could go either way but a weakened Matlock were totally outclassed. However 17 lads played rugby for Matlock and should have gained some experience and understanding of the level they need to get their game to in order to be competitive.

Nobody Said It Was Easy.

Match details

Match date

Sun 17 Apr 2011

Kickoff

11:00

Team overview