Matlock RUFC edged out by visitors Long Eaton

Matlock welcomed their visitors to a sunny but icy cold Cromford Meadows. Squad changes were yet again the order of the day with the dependable Simon Wright missing due to a calf injury and both Conor Loughnane and Charlie Tallis unavailable for this rearranged fixture. Tom Wright came back into the squad starting on the bench alongside Sam Ball who declared late availability and Henri Packard for his first game this season. A reshuffle of the back line saw Callam Massey-Campbell start at 9 with Jack Ritchie moving out to flyhalf. Mike Allen was tasked with stepping out of the engine room of the scrum to reprise his former role in the centre. With Tom Cruttenden moving to No8 Ollie Beesley was a late call up on the flank for Joe Bunting who picked up an injury playing for NLD on the Friday night.

From the kick off Matlock found themselves on the defence and when the visitors broke through the middle to touch down for a score after just 5 minutes to lead 0-5 the home side needed to respond well and respond quickly. Finding themselves back in their own 22 Matlock looked to clear their lines. Callam Massey Campbell’s box kick was well placed and gave John Statham the opportunity to challenge. Unfortunately the visitors flyhalf jumped to claim the ball but landed awkwardly picking up a nasty knee injury which eventually saw him stretchered off after just 7 minutes. The game restarted and on 10 minutes Matlock were in front. A Jack Ritchie box kick resulted in a goal line drop out which was kicked direct into touch giving Matlock a 5 metre scrum. Matlock attacked from the scrum but resulted in the ball being held up over the line. This time the goal line drop out was hit long and Matlock counter attacked with Tom Cruttenden breaking through a couple of tackles and making good ground before finding Mike Allen in support who in turn fed Harry Boyd to race over out wide. Ollie Hubbard converted brilliantly 7-5. The game continued to be tight before Long Eaton edged ahead again with a try in the corner 7-10. Matlock again responded well and on 30 minutes they grabbed back the lead when Callam Massey-Campbell sniped over from close range. Again Ollie Hubbard added the extras from out wide 14-10. Matlock were now in the ascendancy and increased their lead further when Mike Allen crossed to score 19-10 and only moments before half time. The visitors responded and kicked deep where the ball was fielded but instead of booting the ball into touch to end the half Matlock chose to move the ball and paid the ultimate price by conceding another try. Half time 19-15

The second half remained a tight affair but when Matlock failed to capitalise on their opportunities and then began to get on the wrong side of the penalty count, the visitors made them pay the price scoring twice to open up a 19-27 lead with only 7 minutes to play. Matlock began to take risks and with Packard looking dangerous with ball in hand the possibilities were there. However in chasing the game Matlock conceded another unconverted try 19-32 before they claimed some reward for their efforts with the final score courtesy of John Statham taking the final score to 24-32 and a hard earned four try bonus point for the home side. Another close fought game and another agonising defeat for the home side but congratulations to Long Eaton who go top of the league courtesy of this win.

So far this season has proved to be a testing time for the squad which has missed the valuable experience of a number of players for a variety of reasons and whilst they have only lost one game by a double figure margin, they have agonisingly lost another 6 games now by really tight margins. On the plus side it is clear that on our day we can compete with every team in this league and we will continue to work hard on all areas of the game to iron out the wrinkles and work on cutting down the penalty count against us.

Matlock now have two more home games on the bounce, first Sutton Coldfield on 2nd December with VP lunch preceding and then Tamworth on the 9th December. Both games kick off at 2.15pm