Chesterfield Panthers 1st XV 65-5 Matlock 2nd XV

With confidence running high after two big wins from two, an outsider could have been forgiven for expecting the same again, but the Panthers squad would have been a little more wary knowing that club captain Scott Widdowson, vice-captain Steve Greedy and top try scorer Scott Frost-Davies were all missing for this week’s fixture. Having said that Chesterfield, who are now confident in their squad depth, were still looking forward to the game in the beautiful North Derbyshire sunshine.

As in previous weeks Panthers came out of the blocks at 100mph, looking extremely strong in the carry, Matlock struggling to cope with the big Chesterfield pack, captain George Barnes and second row partner Paddy Holleworth looking particularly strong in the close channels. The Panthers pack broke the gain line at will and the first try of the day came from exactly that, a line break from the middle of the park saw quick ball for scrum half Dean Shiels, who then released veteran number ten Chris Cooper. Cooper then spread the ball, hitting centre Glenn Grayson who drew in the last defender to put winger Ben Hadfield clear for the first try. Conversion missed.

Matlock seemed a little shell shocked, and if they weren't, they might have been after the second try, at this point Chesterfield were playing some of their best rugby this season, a centre field scrum saw number 8 Jack Burton pick up and release Shiels who attacked down the right flank with wing Jordan Grayson making ground, the ball was then hit up by the pack and quickly recycled for the backline to do their business, inside centre Kev Shiels putting away Fullback Matt Dunnington-Wallace for a try of the season contender. Converted by Hadfield.

The next try was one for the big boys, clean lineout ball courtesy of hooker Russ Wall and blindside Dan Fox saw another forward line break resulting in 150kg loosehead prop Lee Laughton crashing over the line through 3 defenders for his first of the game. Converted by Hadfield.

Panthers were now camped in the Matlock 22 with temporary relief coming from a long clearing kick from the Matlock ten, but quick thinking from Panther's fullback Dunnington-Wallace saw him take a quick throw, the ball was then spread right to the opposite wing and number 14 Grayson who danced through the away defence to dot down from 40m out. Conversion missed.

Chesterfield were now building through their phases and looking dangerous from every carry, non-more so than tighthead Jason Rushton who broke the line and finished from outside the 22. Converted by Hadfield.

The home side now wanted to show a different side to their game and another impressive throw in the lineout from Wall led to a very well controlled driving maul and number 8 Burton to break off and score Chesterfield’s 6th try of the game. Burton then doubled his tally from a little further out breaking the line and beating the cover defence. Converted by Hadfield.

Half time was now creeping up but not before centre Shiels managed to take the try count to 8 for the half, leaving the defenders behind and showing a clean pair of heels to the chasing Matlock team. Conversion missed.

Half time 48-0.

Half time saw substitutes Toby Woolgar-Norton and debutant Leo Rogers enter the fray replacing Burton and Kev Shiels. Matlock came out in the second half with much more fight and Panthers struggled to break them down for long periods, but hard work and structure eventually saw young number six Dan Fox smash over the line for a well-deserved try. Conversion missed.

Unfortunately, a bad injury for a Matlock player saw the game moved to a different pitch so the Matlock player could receive treatment while he waited for an ambulance. The break in play saw replacements Nate Poulton, Dec Wileman and Eddie Williams brought on to replace Holleworth, Steve Wright and Chris Cooper. The last 10 minutes became the Lee Laughton show, with the big prop taking on the Matlock defence at every opportunity scoring his second and third try of the day with the third try particularly impressive bouncing through multiple wannabe tacklers before touching down.

After the game coach Lee Whitmore said ‘After a pretty tough week, losing three particularly important players it was extremely pleasing to see how the lads reacted. We knew if we stuck to our structure, we could accommodate those losses and in the first half that is exactly what we did. The lads that came in did a fantastic job and have really put their hands up to the coaching team’.