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Melbourne 1st XV 16: 18 Rolls Royce 1st XV |
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Written by Ian Lucas
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Monday, 10 November 2008 |
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Melbourne hosted a well drilled Rolls Royce side who yet again proved
to be the thorn in Melbourne’s side for the second season running.
Melbourne started off the match in the way they have for most of the games this season (half asleep). This allowed the opposition to establish a foot hold on the game.
Luckily for Melbourne the Rolls Royce kicker missed his fair share of penalties. This first 20 minutes saw Melbourne concede 2 tries and the game looked to be another repeat of the Kempston outing. However with some strong words from the captain Melbourne started to up their game and it wasn’t long before Chris Fulton provided us with 3 points from a penalty and also provided the nice chip over the top that saw stringer race in for the first Melbourne try of the day. Melbourne went in to half time trailing 8:13.
The second half witnessed a totally different side from the first, a side that was starting to play to its potential. Melbourne pressured the Rolls Royce side and started to dominate all over the park. However this dominance couldn’t be put in to points due to some excellent defending from the opposition. The Melbourne pack spent the majority of the second half camped in the oppositions 22, unfortunately Royce’s centre capitalised on some quick ball, which enabled them to counter attack and score in the corner giving the visitors a 7 point lead with only minutes remaining.
he kick off by foster was spilt by the oppositions number 8 allowing Melbourne a scrum just outside the 22. Luckily for Smithy (who soldiered on through injury) Pete Burchell was on hand to hook the ball for him allowing Lucas to pick and go. Surging runs from the backs saw Melbourne get closer and closer to the try line. Eventually the persistent pressure and good ball retention was rewarded with a 5 metre scrum. The Melbourne pack went for the push over, which was halted just short of the line due to the opposition tight head collapsing under the pressure from the mighty Bob Stowell. This however did not deter Ian Lucas from driving over from number 8 to add to his tally of tries. Unfortunately with a strong wind and awkward angle Melbourne were not able to convert 16:18. With one minute left to play Melbourne received the kick off and tried to grasp a victory. Unfortunately Melbourne was unable to get any more points before the final whistle went.
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