Ilkeston V Matlock & Newark

Newark again brought a large well drilled squad to the fixture. Our first two games against them were again humbling, mainly due to our poor defensive line speed, giving their runners too much space, which was effectively exploited by good passing. Conversely, both Newark teams had great line speed, cutting down our attacking space & pressurising our decision making. The boys never gave up and rallied well in the third game against Matlock, putting in a better defensive shift, and creating a good few team tries. Special mentions go to Sam Ford & Joe Finnemore for great decision making & creating tries, Henry Crocker for excellent clearing out at rucks and finally Alex Atkins for his allround display today with both strong tackling & direct running.