Point a minute drubbing for Mansfield
Powergen Midlands One
WALSALL 80 MANSFIELD 10
Twelve tries, a point a minute for a lively Walsall side against a battling Blue and Whites who again struggled for a settled back division. The season’s lesson has been that in the top division half chances are regularly turned into points, mistakes are cruelly punished and your tackling has to be straight out of the top drawer.
Walsall turned in a display of instinctive ball handling and excellent angled running from backs and forwards alike to tear apart Mansfield’s makeshift three quarter line. Despite the great form of the home attack Mansfield will still look to a poor tackling display which often committed two or three attempts to stop the man and leave inevitable overlaps.
The omens were poor from the start. Walsall’s kick off was met by a chorus of calls but no intervention and Mansfield immediately were defending a line out 15 metres from their line. Scrambled defence, Troman calling for a mark by the posts and the sight of the ‘physio tending Lindsay’s knee left the visiting support with a feeling of de ja vu. Walsall worked a line out and drive before a flash of Georgian magic took their scrum half over.
From the restart kick Mansfield exerted pressure. Smedley found a gap after Pritchard provided quick line ball and Rutter put Mansfield into the 22. Again the ball flowed from the line out and the skipper coolly enhanced his England credentials with a smooth drop goal that brought a murmur of appreciation round the ground.
Walsall fluffed their kick off and Lindsay and Smedley combined to send Pritchard, Kirk and Holmes rampaging through the middle. A penalty set up another line out where Pike was pulled down but Rutter’s penalty from wide faded past the post.
A run from Taylor and Wagstaff eluding two men in mid field gave hope as the first quarter ended, 5-3 down but so nearly in front. The next twenty minutes shattered those hopes. Following a well worked three quarter move Walsall conjured a converted try. Lindsay finally had to limp out of the game and Sander came on for another back line reshuffle. Any attacking thoughts he had were subsumed by the need to chase down his opposite number for last ditch tackles.
Troman sought every opportunity to run from full back or on centre moves while Waterhouse kicked deep and chased down the opposition to give some respite. Holmes and Newton showed speed off the mark to get to the breakdowns and temporarily delay the wave of attacks. Meanwhile Walsall went through their repertoire, described by some as their best back play of the season, to amass 33 points in the twenty minutes.
The second period continued the procession to the Mansfield try line. Within two minutes another seven points were conceded. Kirk showed his mobility in open play and Karl Robinson was effective in clearing the rucks for Smedley to bring the backs into play.
However, mistakes get punished and fumbles running the ball from under your own posts invite opposition scores. The spirit of adventure did bring flashes; Waterhouse and Troman linking to take play sixty metres, Drury breaking before a Wagstaff looped run threatened.
Injured against the post in a vain attempt to prevent a try Newton gave way to Grant, immediately in the thick of the action with shuddering, move stopping tackles. With 59 points against them Mansfield worked a short line out through Kirk and Holmes for Rutter to penetrate through the middle. The hacked clearance was run straight back by Troman and after a penalty award the quick tap worked out to Williams who rounded the defence to score. Rutter’s conversion put Mansfield into double figures and it could have been more. Grant disrupted the centre of the home backs, Williams was on hand to hack the ball towards the open try line but an attempt to dribble it home like one of his Evertonian heroes saw the ball stick in the mud between his ankles and the chance was gone.
The game was played out with Walsall seizing on every Mansfield mistake to run in three more tries but with the Walsall coaching staff remarking the tenacity and spirit their opposition carried right through to the final whistle.
Saturday brings NLD rivals Scunthorpe to Eakring Road. The Lincolnshire side have enjoyed the lion’s share of victories over the Blue and Whites in recent times but the long standing close rivalry always serves up a hard fought encounter. Mansfield will look to avenge their two early season defeats at, having gone down 48 – 7 in the league and 22 – 10 in the Powergen RFU Senior Cup. For next season Spalding is the next obstacle to that Senior Cup. The draw for the semi final gives Mansfield the boost of home advantage in a repeat of one of the most thrilling finals in recent years. See CHAD next week for confirmation of the date .
The 2nd XV travelled to local rivals Newark and were victors with a 21 - 5 win. Newark scored first within a couple of minutes after a line-out and drive over from 5 yards into the corner. Former Mansfield player Steve Mower failed with the conversion. Mansfield soon settled down and started dominating possession and territory with long kicks using the strong downfield wind. Draycott had a penalty attempt rebound off the post but Mansfield scored from the resulting lineout. Text book tactics and direct running from centres Radford and McGregor got Mansfield back into the home 22, where Bennett eluded two tackles to score under the posts.
Turning round 14 - 5 up, with the elements and gradient against them Mansfield continued to pressure Newark in all aspects of the game. Especially in the scrums which had been fairly even in the first half, Mansfield pressured and Cartwright was a continual menace to the Newark scrumhalf. Pinpoint kicks into the wind resulted in a Mansfield line 10 yards from the Newark line, excellent driving from veteran Palmer was recycled and an 8 man maul was driven over the line for captain Harrison to score, Draycott converting.
Mansfield U15's travelled deep into Lincolnshire, on a very cold Sunday morning to play the Fenland Barbarians (Bourne), a rehearsal of their N.L.D. semi-final. With the wind at their backs Mansfield totally dominated territory and possession but, the strong Barbarians' defence held firm until the 20th minute when Niall Goldie collected from the back of the driving maul to release the ball down the line to Sam Cordin, who beat the covering defence to score in the corner.
The windy conditions prevented Mansfield extending the lead when the conversion and two penalties went narrowly wide. The second period was a different story with the majority of the game being played in the Mansfield half of the pitch. However, strong defence and good tackling, exemplified by Man of the Match Tommy Blythe, enabled Mansfield to keep the Barbarians out and win the match 5 - 0.
Mansfield’ clashes with Mellish turned into rather one sided affairs. The Under 16s ran in 14 tries to record an 86-0 win, something of a mis-match on a Rugby weekend of high scores in general. Despite blustery and cold conditions there was a fine display of handling and continuity. Try scorers for Mansfield, a brace for Danny Spencer, Samuel Johnson, Jack Foster and Tom Eames, four for Andreas Zacharia, one for Tom Nash and Eddie Simmons. Conversions kicked, four for Alan Symcox and Tom Eames, with two for Jonathan Williams.
The Under 12’s turned on the style to record a 47 – 0 win at Mellish.
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