Sun 26 Sep 2021, 11:00
As if an ever increasing injury list, alongside those that were unavailable, were not enough to contend with, our planned home game was cancelled and we now had a hastily rearranged fixture away at Matlock.
This in the times of empty garage forecourts, when fuel has become the most valuable and sought after commodity in Britain.With trepidation that the Midlands had become a post apocalyptic wasteland overnight and the A6 would be plagued by bands of road pirates intercepting cars and stealing their petrol, like in Mad Max, I set off………..
As it was, I needn’t have worried as the weather was fine and if was a pleasant drive!We even had the luxury of a substitute to boot, happy days.
After a minutes’ applause was observed by all present (and it is with deep sadness that we send our condolences to Mark and his family), we kicked off.
The kick off was high and contestable but for some reason we started like we were in lead boots and didn’t contest it (had one or two walked there to preserve fuel?).This lethargy seemed to be infectious and lasted throughout the morning. Some of it could be attributed to the fact that many players were playing out of position with new combinations but I think the real root is that we need to address the basics and only a greater attendance by all at training will improve the situation.
There may have also been a whiff of arrogance, having always previously put Matlock away comfortably.
Clearly Matlock had not read that script and were in front for long periods of the game, even though it always looked like we had the better players.
We soon worked out that their fullback was suspect under the highball and his failure to defuse a couple of bombs provided tries for Angus and Paddy whoscooped up the loose ball.
All too frequently though we tried to take them on directly, when our game plan is to move the ball wide and early. When we did do this it led to Ashley getting a couple of tries, one of which was a 3/4 length of the pitch sprint.
But Matlock never went away and scored at regular intervals themselves.
At the last knockings we were 28-22 down, when the referee said that a Matlock line out was the last play. Sure enough they secured the ball but instead of kicking the ball out to end the game, their scrum half threw it into touch, which is illegal, and therefore gave us a penalty.
From our own attacking line, and with the clock glowing red, we launched a series of drives with Ethan eventually forcing his way to the line, between the posts, from a metre out. Oliver converted and the referee ended the game for a narrow 28-29 win for us.
If we can take anything out of the game it is that we dug in to score the last two try’s to win and that grit should stand us in good stead in the future but the word that best summarises the game is turgid.
And then to cap it all the clubhouse bar was closed, so it proved there was a shortage of fuel after all, just not the one I expected at the outset!
Mick
