Matlock second XV............37

Mannerians second XV.......10

THE Easter weekend saw only Matlock's second team in action, in a friendly fixture against their local rivals Bakewell at Cromford.

The hosts were triumphant after an excellent team performance, outscoring their opponents by seven tries to two.

From the outset, Matlock dominated in all phases of the game and the home team's forwards created a solid platform for the backs to cut loose at will.

Having combined fluently throughout, Matlock's margin of victory should really have been a lot greater, nevertheless the home team will be pleased with this convincing, and confident, victory.

Three tries came in the first half for the hosts, Robert Lund crossing first after the forwards created the attacking situation to let the backs use quick hands to exploit the overlap.

Next, the sinewy Tim Taylor managed to dive over in the corner after good work from Sharpe, Gallagher and the aforementioned Lund, and finally David Hart scored the third, supporting an excellent break and offload by the gambolling Peter Gailey.

After a number of changes at the break took time to settle in the home team's ranks, Bakewell managed to notch a try of their own shortly after half-time.

If ever a wake-up call was needed, this was it, and Matlock promptly worked their way back downfield, where good control by James Shooter at the base of the scrum allowed Tom Morton to poach the try.

Matlock's dominance saw them looking to extend their lead and further excellent scores duly followed from Lund and Hart, both adding their second tries of the afternoon.

Finally, when Mark Rollinson was stopped millimetres short of the line, Danny Fletcher was on hand to claim the last Matlock score.

Tom Morton added one conversion. In the final minutes, Bakewell added their second try of the match, but this was mere consolation, adding some gloss to an otherwise comfortable 37 points to 10 victory.