Melbourne travelled away to neighbours, Donnington.There seemed to be a tension as not only was this a local derby but obviously there has been previous history between the two clubs.
That said Donnington kicked off; Melbourne caught and drove forward. After a passage of play the first score came from a penalty from Holden.Donnington then missed a penalty at the other end before Biggin’s ran in for the first try.Donnington responded shortly after with a penalty to make the score 3-8.Melbourne pressed Donnington into their 22 and Melbourne was rewarded with a 5 metre scrum.Having some ascendency in the pack it was decided to go for a drive over try.The ball struck and secure, 8 man push and the Donnington pack lurched into reverse.The result, a try for Lucas (c/o the front row)!!!Holden slotted the conversion taking the score to 3-15.A further penalty was added by Holden before the half time turnaround giving a score of 3-18.Second half saw a fairly uneventful start; Holden added a further penalty to nudge the score to 3-21.The final passage of play saw Lucas replaced by Fulton and saw Melbourne camped in the Donnington 22; the pressure eventually telling with a try by Smith.Holden converted leaving a full time score of 3-28.With such a narrow pitch the game could not be expansive, the backs being stifled for room.That said, they gave a solid performance; Donnington never seriously threatened the Melbourne line.
Biggin’s and Macer had their usual outstanding games and were in my opinion jointly ‘men of the match’.
