Saturday saw the beginning of a bright new season for Mellish 2’s who will look to build on the successes of last season.

A strong blend of experience combined with the youth policy that has brought many junior players through the club over the recent years gave Mellish the prospect of being able to field a strong side.

The day saw 5 players under the age of 21 playing for the home team.

Derby looked extremely strong for the first quarter of the game with Mellish struggling to find their rhythm in the early exchanges. However as the half wore on our boys gradually found top gear and began to exert their authority within the set piece, forward play and aggressive running from the backs.

At the breakdown and in support of the Mellish pack, Paul Linney showed much of his trademark ‘powerhouse’ running and control of the game. Particularly effective were the mid field duo of Max and Andy Bray who, enabled by an extremely well managed line under the stewardship of ‘maestro’ (no not the crap car of the 1980’s!!) Weldon, were seen to suppress many of the offensive forays from the Derby team.

At the turn Mellish were 22-5 in front.