Retford clear at the top of the league by a massive one point entertained Melbourne who were in fourth place in their latest league fixture sponsored by Drewery and Wheeldon.

Match Report

From the kick off Retford put immediate pressure onto the slow starting visitors and it wasn’t long before an error brought about a penalty.  This was ably struck by Phil Gourlay giving an early three point lead.  This did not deter Melbourne in any way and they were soon to post their intentions by striking a well executed drop goal to draw level.

From this quick exchange of points ensued a period of scrappy play where both sides seemed to struggle to find their respective rhythms.  However the next score was sweetly taken when Melbourne put in a clearance kick which only found the awaiting arms of James Warwick-Adkins who set off with his usual pace on a diagonal run.  Just has he came into contact with the opposition he released the ball to Chris Trenham who scampered in under the posts for a try converted by Gourlay to take a well deserved ten point to three lead.

The game at this stage had just gone past the twenty minute mark and what can only be described as sloppy defence proved to be the undoing of Retford.  Melbourne took a quick tap penalty and to everyone’s surprise nobody moved up to make things a bit more difficult.  Therefore the Melbourne number eight crossed the line with consummate ease.  There was then a period of frenzied play as both sides struggled for the upper hand.

First there was some excellent play by the Retford forwards especially Dave Howard who drove on and then passed to Phil Gourlay his ball went out to Rich South at centre who seized the opportunity to break through and score again converted.  Following this Melbourne refused to lie down and another set of missed tackles saw them narrow the gap before halftime scoring a try again missing the conversion but leaving the half time score seventeen points to thirteen.

The first twenty minutes of the second half saw Retford camped within their own twenty two metre area of the pitch and no matter what they did they could not escape.  The only thing that can be said is they eventually weathered the storm only giving up one try but losing the lead by one point.  Then Retford sprung to life playing their best rugby of the day.  Good play from forwards and backs alike saw Retford gain good territory from the resulting scrum the ball went wide left and eventually to the winger who rounded everyone to score a try and regain the lead that winger being James Warwick-Adkins.

A substitution was made swapping Pete Walker for Richard Henderson at fullback and Retford were back on the attack.  This time an attack down the blind side saw Simon Phillips finish the job off on the other wing to score in the corner and from wide out the conversion was added by Pete Walker.  In the last few minutes of the match Clive Savage replaced Ben Agar at centre but the game came to an end with a well ground out win.

The Drewery and Wheeldon man of the match went to in the backs Richard Henderson who despite saying he hardly touched the ball played position wise an excellent game and in the forwards it went to a tireless running and tackling effort by Liam Walter with Donkey being awarded to Phil Gourlay oops!

Report thanks to http://official.sportnetwork.net