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SENIOR RESULTS

Mansfield bring down high flying Derby

MIDLANDS 2 EAST

MANSFIELD  27    DERBY  15

 

Mansfield’s best performance of the season and most impressive result as third placed, play off chasing Derby were brought down to earth with a bump. The Eakring Road faithful were left wondering where the power, commitment and discipline on show had been since September, as they were treated to a display of well-drilled power from their forwards backed up by both incisive running and tenacious tackling. The two tries in the final quarter added Derby ten points to the score line to make the game look closer than in fact it was.

Mansfield fielded the kick off and forced a penalty to send play back to halfway and set the stage for the afternoon. Kirk pinpointed Lindsay and collected the catch to set a charge from Roberts supported by Pritchard and Holmes to drive play to the 22. Jones tested the area behind the defence and the visitors’ clearance set the Lindsay line ball conveyor belt back into action. This time the backs were unleashed and Taylor burst through two tackles before Derby transgressed again.

The stiff breeze failed to help the kick but Holmes provided the springboard for Robinson and Kirk to drive within ten metres. A penalty to Mansfield as the increasingly frustrated Derby outfit transgressed was wasted as a rare indiscipline saw the decision reversed but the Blue and Whites were soon back on the Derby line. Jones instigated the drive and Kirk, Grant and the pack marshalled by Shaw went through the middle onto the try line. If Derby thought they had held the attack they reckoned without the Roy Lowe and Sons Man of the Match Roberts who sailed over the bodies in front of him and the line to claim the opening points of the afternoon.

Without let up Pritchard and Holmes led Mansfield back onto the attack before Shaw linked with Symcox and Mansfield’s youngsters showed their flair. Another penalty set up a five metre line out and as Mansfield’s pack drove to the line Kirk added a Captain’s try which Symcox converted to end the first quarter with a twelve point lead.

Derby resorted to a towering high ball but Arnold showed safe hands and then great strength to shrug off three men. As play developed the referee was unsighted to see a deliberate knock on recovered by the Derby scrum half who scampered in at the corner. Far from disheartened Mansfield continued their relentless forward momentum. Robinson recovered the restart; Holmes moved play fifteen metres and kicks from Symcox and Jones put the Blue and Whites into the 22. Rushby angled his run before Taylor wrestled ball clear and Storey looked for a way round the outside.

Despite constant probing through Roberts, Stringfellow and Lindsay and crossing the Derby line twice Mansfield could not gain a clean touchdown and turned round with a game in the balance just seven points in front. That was scant reward for the best forty minutes of Mansfield’s season to date. However, another big forty minutes effort was about to follow.

Within five minutes of the break Arnold had twice turned the visitors defence and after a series of scrums Pritchard emerged from the base of a back row move linked by Roberts and Holmes to re-establish the twelve-point advantage.

Jones was at the shoulder of Roberts as Mansfield showed they had no intention of sitting back on their lead. Derby were shunted off their own put in but a long pass to the blindside wing evaded fingertips and Grant and Robinson proved their worth in open play to open up for Taylor. Again Rushby found a way through and Symcox celebrated a fine try with an equally fine conversion having gleefully accepted his pass.

The Mansfield defence looked to prove itself as finally Derby threatened. Swift covering and important tackles from Taylor and Rushby allowed Arnold and Storey to reverse the flow of play. A saving tackle by Symcox from a break through the middle stopped a certain score and Stringfellow provided two hits in the same move to keep play out of the Mansfield half. His next action was a speculative drop goal that took everyone by surprise, especially the Mansfield Coaching staff.

Finally Mansfield’s line was breached again, but only after determination had forced the scorers wide for two tries without conversion points to add. In between the scores Symcox maintained a three score gap with a penalty accompanied by a yellow card for the visitors. Finally the game came to an end with Mansfield deep in the Derby 22, as they had been for much of the afternoon. Another Roberts drive showed his influence over the whole eighty minutes and Shaw was still wiling to experiment with darting breaks knowing his back row were there in support.

The elation at the final whistle said as much about the pride in  the performance as it did the result. A victory that keeps the Mansfield survival quest on track and probably scuppers Derby’s promotion campaign.

This result means that with two games to go and four points at stake there are six teams covered by three points, and the season could well be hinging on the last day of the season fixtures when four of those six are in opposition.

A week the First team have a respite before Mansfield picks up the league cudgel again and make the trip to Northampton Old Scouts, a point above them. Should the side perform as they did this weekend then a league double is very much on the cards. That would set up a final home game with Melton Mowbray at Eakring Road that could bring the league season to an end on a crescendo.  

Mansfield II – No Game

Mansfield III v Southwell II - Away

The youngsters of Mansfield III just had no answer to the experience and organisation of an outstanding Southwell II team losing 58-0 away from home. From the kick off Southwell hit the ground running and after 20 minutes had posted 20 unanswered points on the board. From here on in Mansfield defended well and attempted to take the game back to Southwell, but found them just as effective in defence as they were in attack. Mansfield conceded 43 points in the first half and at the turn around rallied for an extra 20% effort which enabled them to spend long periods in the oppositions 22. Mansfield can take heart in the fact that they never dropped their heads in the face of much stronger opposition only conceding 15 points in the second half. Mansfield's man of the match went to wing Luke Coupe whose work rate in defence and attack was outstanding considering this is his first year of rugby.

Mansfield IV v Amber Valley II – Away

Much like last week Mansfield dominated for lengthy periods controlling the flow of the game with Amber Valley having no reply but break away tries saw Valley limp in eventual 10-5 winners. The addition of Andy Berryman after 50 mins seemed to get Mansfield on the front foot again but it wasn’t enough to break the Valley defense. It was a dogged victory for Valley as they seemed to flag in the last 10 mins but held onto the win. A good solo try for Paul Heath kept Mansfield in the running.

Mansfield U13 v Hinckley U13 – Away

This was an all action encounter with Mansfield disappointed to have narrowly lost to the Leicestershire finalists 22-19. Hinckley started the stronger of the 2 sides making their intentions known with an early try. Unconverted Mansfield regrouped and decided to take the game to the large Hinckley side. A couple of missed tackles allowed Hinckley in again to go 10-0 down. Mansfield rucked like they haven’t done for weeks securing quality ball for their side. The ball was being spread well with Rick Evans having the game of his life at No.10, running every ball at every opportunity finally scoring himself with a break away try to bring the score to 10-7 after Jordan converted. Going in at half time 3 tries to 1 Mansfield seemed to re energise with stronger performances from Shaun Harrison, James Symcox, Jackson Clark, Joe Needham, Morgan Taylor, Rick Evans and Jordan Glen. Fred Field at Centre also played a big role in disrupting Hinckley’s clean ball. Man of the match was a tough one to call this week with Needham playing a great supporting role at Lock and getting a well deserved try of his own when Jordan broke the defense only to get snagged 5m out where Needham ripped the ball to dive over. Symcox also got on the score sheet from a No.8 drive from Taylor, his forwards rucking over him for Symcox to pick up at the base and dive in to seal winning the 2^nd half 2 tries to 1. No.8 Taylor just pipping everyone to the MOM award for his overall effort in the areas of tackling, driving mauls and ball ripping.

JUNIOR RESULTS 

Mansfield Colts v Newark Colts – Away at Sleaford

Mansfield Colts booked their place in the NLD final at the end of April with an impressive 22-5 victory over Newark on Sunday afternoon. Travelling into deepest Lincolnshire to neutral ground at Sleaford, they encountered conditions better suited to beach yachting rather than rugby. Playing with the gale force wind at their backs in the first period, predictably Mansfield dominated both territory and possession, only a combination of stubborn Newark defence and poor decision making from Mansfield meant the game remained scoreless for the first quarter. Mansfield did get the ball down over the line when Centre Alan Symcox latched on to a chip through from Jonno Williams only for the referee to judge that he knocked on before grounding the ball. Finally, Mansfield realised they needed to up the tempo and on 18 mins the ball was released to the backs through quick hands to under 17 winger Sam Cordin who opened his Colts account, scoring in the corner. The remainder of the half was played deep in the opposition 22, even when Newark did win the ball they were unable to relieve the pressure as kicks made little or no ground into the strong wind. Mansfield continued to press but was unable to add to the earlier score until the end of the half when, from a scrum in the middle of the park the ball was spun first one way and then the other, stretching the Newark defence for Charlie Chiverton to score out wide. Having understandably missed the previous conversion and an earlier penalty, Fly Half Jonno Williams somehow managed to slot the conversion out wide to make the half time score 12-0. Protecting their 12 point lead the team braced themselves for a second half onslaught with the wind in their faces but to their credit Mansfield came out all firing on all cylinders and took the game to Newark. The forwards were once again heroic and from a three times reset Newark scrum they eventually won turnover ball which was released to the backs for Chiverton to score his second try of the game. The first 15 mins of the second period were played almost exclusively in the Newark 22 and second row Aiden McGregor finished off an excellent team move on 50 mins to score his first try of the season. The game was effectively over at this point, Newark never gave up, Mansfield repelled every attack although they did score a late consolation try with the last play of the game. Credit must go to both sides for at least playing some rugby in extremely difficult conditions but it is Mansfield who progress to the final on April 22nd at Eakring Road. Although it is impossible to single out any individual in what was a good team performance, special mention should go to the front row of Simmons, Pogmore and Young who scrumaged superbly setting up a number of attacking opportunities and providing a solid platform to keep the team moving forward.

Mansfield U16 at the Boston 10’s tournament

Mansfield U16’s travelled with two teams deep into Lincolnshire to play in the annual Boston 10’s tournament; with the first team securing the trophy with an extra time golden try against the Leicestershire and Midland’s Champions Lutterworth. Playing in two leagues with the winners of each contesting the final, Mansfield first team beat Boston 4 tries to 0, Lincoln 1st team 3 tries to 0, Skegness 8 tries to 0, Market Rasen and Louth 4 tries to 0 and with a draw 1 try all with the Barnsley 1st team to head league 1 with 9 points. The tries were scored by: Adam Shaw, Ross Elms, Ryan Hough, Jordan Bettridge, Toby Lieber, Joseph Symcox, Josh Metcalfe, Callum Wood, Danny Boyles, John Revell, Jonathan Cordin, Josh Cairns and Sam Wakeling with Ellis Keegan and Robert French coming close on a number of occasions. Mansfield second team secured victories against the second teams from Lincoln and Barnsley, but lost to Grimsby, Scunthorpe and Lutterworth to finish 4th in league 2 with 4 points behind Lutterworth who won their league with 10 points. Tries were scored by: Ryan Croll and John Ross Ward. The final was an evenly contested game between the two best teams in the tournament. In the first period Mansfield looked to have taken an early lead, but the referee ruled the ball had crossed the dead ball line before Symcox was able to get the final touch and shortly afterwards Lutterworth scored a breakaway try to take the lead for themselves. Mansfield continued to apply the pressure and drew level before the break with a try scored by Hough. The second period brought no further score and the game was taken into an extra time of 5 minutes each way with the next score to decide the outcome. Within two minutes of the restart the ball was taken from the rear of a scrum and passed quickly through the hands to the wing, where Bettridge was able to hand off the cover defence before going over in the corner to score and gain a deserved victory.

 

 

 

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