Strong defence repel Coalville possession

Coalville`s top of the table clash with leaders Melbourne ended in defeat although they had more than their fair share of the ball they just couldn't break down the hosts defence. Melbourne took the lead with barely 30 seconds on the clock; from the Melbourne kick off deep into the visitors 22, an attempted clearance was charged down and the home side reacted the quickest to touch down for a dream start. The conversion was good to put the side 7-0 up. Worst was to follow for the Memorial Ground side as centre Keeling was helped off the pitch with a damaged ankle, with it being too serious to play any further part. A returning Matt Twigg replaced him with 15mins gone. Coalville were dominating the scrums, leading to plenty of possession in the hosts half but were thwarted on a number of occasions by some odd decisions by the official, bringing the play back for an earlier infringement when Coalville were virtually about to open their account. To rub salt into the wounds Melbourne raced away to increase their lead with an unconverted try. A penalty on the half time mark meant the home team led 15 nil at the break.On for Coalville into the second half came Sam Gadsby and Will Quail who carried on the dominate scrummaging. The visitors were well on top, keeping the hosts in their own 22 for long periods but just couldn't get that final bit of luck that they needed to breach the home line. Despite this, another break away try for Melbourne put them 22 points to the good. The visitors finally got onto the scoreboard with a try from Joe Rumming after sustained forwards play prized the home defence apart, Billy Savory added the extras.The final twenty minutes turned out to be a stalemate as both sides threw everything at their opponents but neither team could cross the whitewash again. Ben Toft, head coach at Coalville, said "tough day at the office today. Credit to Melbourne, a well drilled and organized side. But having 70% possession and giving away 14 points is always going to make it tough. I cannot fault the commitment but we will learn from the errors and get them right.
Coalville are at home on the 26th November where Newark are the visitors kick off 2.15pm