Melton RFC suffer more derby blues as Syston impress

Gareth Collins’ side famously defeated Syston in last season’s County Cup final in May, but then suffered a 47-14 away defeat in the league.

The Leicestershire rivals also knocked Melton out of the County Cup as they gained revenge for that Welford Road loss.

The home side had a terrible start as they shipped 17 points in the first 15 minutes, and matters were not helped by some harsh penalties when Melton did manage to get into Syston’s 22.

Syston roared into a 38-0 half-time lead and did not let up after the break as they scored another 12 points before the home side got their act together.

Great work from the tireless Chris Rose and the outstanding Klay Radford led to a try out wide. Harvey Green hit the post from the touchline conversion which summed up Melton’s afternoon.

During the latter stages of the match Syston’s back three really opened up, playing some scintillating rugby as the visitors took their try tally to 12 with eight conversions for a mammoth 76-5 win.

To their credit, Collins’ side never threw in the towel and captain Marcus Badham can rely on his soldiers to keep fighting with many battles out there still to be won.

Syston’s bonus point win kept them four points clear of Bedford at the top, while Melton remained in eighth place.

Their tough run of fixtures against the league’s leading sides continues on Saturday with a daunting trip to second-placed Bedford who have lost just twice this season and are on a run of five straight wins.

Kick-off is 2.15pm.