Mansfield climb the table
Powergen Midlands 2 East
AMPTHILL 20 MANSFIELD 46
‘Nowhere near our best but a step in the right direction’ was the view of Coach John Tasker as Mansfield left the pitch in Bedfordshire. An hour before he was bemoaning the error-strewn passage that had conceded a 17-8 lead to the home side and was firmly of the opinion that Mansfield would be trailing at the interval.
Indeed with 38 minutes on the watch and that score line few would have disagreed with him. Enter Rob Storey with two tries to complete a first half hat trick and instead of contemplating their first win of the season the Amps were restarting 22 – 17 behind.
Ampthill kicked off and had the gift of a simple penalty on the 22 under the posts after just thirty seconds. Stung into action Mansfield went back up field with Drury taking the most direct route, Storey gave the hint of things to come with a dart down the touchline. Despite Tom Newton stealing the opponents line out to springboard the first of many trademark forward drives. Lindsay’s line out catch allowed Storey to loop round and make 30 metres.
Bacon was swift to tackle a breakout to a standstill and set up two attacking lineouts. The second saw Pritchard feed quick ball back and Smedley release the three quarters. Rutter’s long pass gave debutante Wills the chance to create a gap and send Storey over in the corner. The conversion fell short but Rutter was soon slotting the first of his sixteen-point haul. Jones recovered before clearing long and Storey and Wills showed their speed to help force another line out.
Again Harrison’s throw was spot on and Lindsay and the pack drove 25 metres to set up Rutter’s penalty. Now in front 8-3 Mansfield should have been looking to build a score but instead they hit the self-destruct button. Lost ball in contact was followed by a series of missed tackles and a try under the posts. Within five minutes matters had gone from bad to worse. Penalised for going over the top, fumbles with openings beckoning and line out lifter slipping at the vital second all compounded the feeling the Blue and Whites had lost track. Ampthill worked a move from the base of a scrum out to the right and squeezed in for the try. The conversion limped over, moments later an easy penalty slid wide or things could have been worse than 17-8 and Waterhouse had to be secure under a high ball to claim a mark.
Crookes replaced Drury on the half hour and Mansfield scrum continued to pressurise the home pack. Storey’s run led to a series of penalties and impressive drives as the half time whistle approached. Utilising the blind side Smedley and Rutter broke and released Storey who raced home with what many assumed would be the last move of the half. There was time for the restart and a Mansfield scrum. Richard Newton moved the ball away and drew the defence before once again Storey was outstripping the cover and completing his hat trick. As smooth as silk a second conversion from Rutter’s boot near touch ended the half and a dramatic turn round.
Intent of forcing home their advantage Mansfield followed up the kick off and recovered the ball to pressurise Ampthill’s defence. Pushed off their own put in and harried in the loose a chip towards the posts saw a wild pass and Wills was quickest to react and crown an impressive debut with his maiden try.
A penalty brought Ampthill back to within nine points but on three quarter time Mansfield made the game safe. Waterhouse launched himself from deep and when the defence thought they had him covered Newbould, Stringfellow and Harrison were in support to start a rolling maul. The action moved 25 metres before Smedley guided the forwards over and Richard Newton was scoring a come back try.
Replacement Brown burst into the action taking play close to the try line and Stringfellow contrived a 30-metre bullocking run, next appearing to take line ball down the 5-metre channel. With energy sapping drives taking their toll on the home defence something had to give. Harrison was held up behind the line but the next attempt had two Newton’s forcing the ball up to the line and Pritchard securing the try. Rutter floated the conversion home and another first team debut was recorded with Hooper taking his chance to close down the home full back and control loose ball near half way.
Crookes carried the ball to the line and Brown beat four men as Ampthill’s long clearances were run back. Desperate for a score Amps piled forward Lindsay and Jones recycled and Wills headed out of his 22 for a seventy-metre run. Robbed of his second try of the day by stepping on the line it was left to Rutter to land a penalty for 46-20 and stout home defence from penalty scrums to keep the score below the half century.
With no fewer than 12 of the squad missing once again Mansfield’s strength in depth, conveyor belt of talented homegrown youth and considerable spirit won the day. A move up three places and out of the relegation zone was their reward but improvements will be needed to maintain that climb to safety. Three big league encounters and a Cup defence need to be accomplished before Santa comes and the Blue and Whites can toast a Merry Christmas
Mansfield II v Game Cancelled
Mansfield III v Southwell II - Home
Mansfield made a poor start in this no frills encounter. Southwell started with two quick tries, one from their own half and the other from a Mansfield mistake. The bright light of the first half was Hawson with his first try for the Mansfield third team. The half time score was a disappointing 5-27 to Southwell. The second half saw Mansfield turn the screw with tries from Grant and Hughes. It was only last-ditch tackling that prevented Mansfield from snatching the victory which saw Hughes held up over the opposition try line. The final score ending 19-27.
Mansfield IV v Southwell III - Away
Mansfield 4ths ran out clear winners against Southwell 3rds 35-7 on Saturday to register their second win in a week. With a number of key backs unavailable Mansfield’s’ forwards had to fill in the gaps at stand off and centres. The Whittlestone brothers and Billy Bragg did great in positions alien to them. As it was, the reshuffle didn’t seem to distract Mansfield and with four tries in the first half to Southwells’ one they always looked in control although Southwell never gave up the game and battled to the end. Mansfield’s try scorers were Bragg, Denman, Saunders, Wagstaff, S. Stevenson, Berryman and Parker. Mansfield’s man of the match went to Tim Allsop
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