Dunstablians 22 Matlock 10

Great sideline support helped to power Dunstablians to their third straight Midlands One East victory.

And Dees captain Joe Murphy paid tribute to the club's supporters after they claimed a 22-10 victory over Matlock at a wet and windy Bidwell Hill on Saturday.

He said: "The crowd played such a massive part in the win and the entire team would like to thank them for their support.

"We just hope to see more and more supporters coming out into the elements to support the Dees team each week."

Dunstablians suffered a blow before kick off when they lost flanker Glenn Brinkley to an ankle injury during the team warm-up.

With number eight Rob Thorne already missing and lock Cam Nicholls not back in the UK until next week, second team captain James Noel stepped back into Dees' engine room.

Dees got off to a stuttering start in the windy conditions and allowed Matlock to kick their way out of defence and play most of the rugby in Dees' half in the first 10 minutes.

Strong words from pack leader Ben Murphy got Dees' forwards going and, after a catch-and-drive move was thwarted, the home side's backs took over with Phil Stock smashing his way past three Matlock tacklers to score, although Joe Murphy missed the conversion.

Matlock regrouped and seized the lead when one of their props forced his way over for a converted try.

A series of infringements from the hosts then presented Matlock with an easy penalty, which they duly took to lead 10-5 at the break.

With the wind at their backs, Gerhard Swart and Joe Murphy provided Dees with the ideal platform with some great kicking from hand.

And Dunstablians re-took the initiative five minutes in when they drove their way over the whitewash following a line-out, Ben Murphy the man touching down.

A great touchline conversion from Joe Murphy then moved Dees 12-10 ahead.

Props George Jenkins and Simon George easily contained Matlock's front-row, giving number eight Scott Oliver the perfect base to strut his stuff.

More good kicking from hand put the visitors under pressure and Dees' pack exerted their authority again with Oliver crashing over for an unconverted score.

Lock Noel then made the most of a loose kick before off-loading to outstanding winger Stock, who produced some great skill, only to see the ball go dead as he looked to grubber kick his way over Matlock's line.

Joe Murphy saw a drop-goal attempt drift just wide before squandering the chance to put the game to bed when he missed with another penalty attempt.

Undeterred Dees pressed on, with Oliver making good ground. Quick-thinking flanker Andy Champ then picked and drove through Matlock's defence for another unconverted try to cement victory.

On Saturday Dees face Newark in a mid-table tussle.

Dees: 1 George Jenkins, 2 Ben Murphy, 3 Simon George, 4 James Noel, 5 Kelvin Frost, 6 Ross Billington, 7 Andy Champ, 8 Scott Oliver, 9 Ashley Warren, 10 Gerhard Swart, 11 Kevin Boland, 12 Haydn Annand, 13 Stuart Webb, 14 Phil Stock, 15 Joe Murphy.