Casuals 26 Matlock 28

7 February 2015
Midlands 2 East North

Casuals 26 Matlock 28

Casuals were left wondering what might have been, after Matlock grabbed a last minute victory, depriving Casuals of a well deserved victory over the run away league leaders.

Casuals exerted early pressure on Matlock, and they nearly got over the line after only 8 minutes, but a run from Miles Johnson lead to a breakdown near the try line, and scrum half Ben Newton dived over for the try.
Mark Higgins converted, and minutes later kicked a penalty from 35 metres, when Matlock were penalised for a high tackle.
Matlock brought themselves back into the game when they kicked a penalty to the corner, and subsequently went in at the corner for a try.

A Higgins penalty extended Casuals lead, and only moments later, Steve Naylor charged into the corner for Casuals second try. Higgins converted from the touchline,

Matlock had to play with 14 men due to a yellow card sin binning, but that was followed up by a second yellow for the same player when he returned to the pitch, but they managed to get a penalty to reduce the arrears.

Graeme Roberts, then was sent to the bin just before ½ time.

The first half closed with Casuals leading 20 to 11.

It took another 8 minutes before Higgins punished a pull down in the lineout, with another penalty.
Casuals were looking pretty strong at this stage, and they kept Matlock pinned back for another 15 minutes,
but Matlock’s determination took them up to Casual’s line. Their attack was held up over the line, but they crossed for the try from the subsequent scrum.

Casual’s response was emphatic, and they drove a maul 30 metres, almost up to Matlock’s try line, but the referee inexplicably awarded the scrum to Matlock, when the maul was collapsed in front of the posts.
Casuals kept up the pressure, and James Constable slotted a penalty to pull Casuals further in front.

Another yellow card binning another Casuals player, did not help their cause, but the referee’s liberal use of cards should have been a warning.

Unfortunately a couple of lapses led to Matlock scoring 2 further tries to earn themselves the bonus point, and a conversion was enough for Matlock to sneak the win, and maintain their drive towards promotion.
Casuals can be proud of their efforts at running Matlock that close, but can feel themselves very unlucky not to grab a victory after leading for the majority of the game