Green and gold are back on track

ASHBY 0 MELBOURNE 24

MELBOURNE returned to winning ways at the top of Midlands Two East (North).

They picked up a bonus point as they surged to a 24-0 away win against second-from-bottom Ashby.

Melbourne started strongly and in the first 40 minutes had around 80% possession.

The visitors scored their first try following Jordan Goddard’s kick downfield.

Possession was retained through several phases before Alex Nightingale forced his way over the line and Euan Holden kicked the conversion.

Right winger Joe Stuart was next to touch down for the visitors and Holden’s extras established a 14-0 lead.

Ashby were reduced to 14 men shortly after for killing the ball when Melbourne threatened the try line.

The resulting scrum penalty was reset six times as Melbourne dominated the set-piece, at one stage appearing to score direct from the scrum drive but it was over-ruled for an apparent wheel.

With Melbourne securing the ball on the final scrum, a pick and go resulted in several powerful carries and phases before man of the match Samuel Hancock finished superbly on the left, although the conversion was missed.

The end of the first half was marred by a serious injury to an Ashby second row forward.

Early in the second half, Melbourne were reduced to 13 when Jack Fisher and Jack Percival were shown yellow cards but one of Ashby’s players then saw red for throwing a punch which meant they finished the game with 14.

Melbourne pressed and Joe Livesey claimed the bonus point with their fourth try, unconverted, after some excellent running by Will Doleman.