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Unwanted hat trick for Mansfield

MIDLANDS 2 EAST

MANSFIELD  20   PAVIORS  41 

Mansfield woeful start to the season continued on Saturday as they crashed to their third defeat in three league games, conceded over forty points for the third match running and for the third time squandered a solid forward platform with self inflicted errors and lacklustre tackling.

Kicking off Mansfield had the bonus of a scrum from a knock on and a solid base to attack the visitors defence. Despite losing their own line out Holmes put in a big hit to recover ball and Wills supported to put Mansfield back on the attack. Symcox and Storey linked to move Mansfield up field and Paviors scrum was distinctly uncomfortable on its own put in. Despite the disruption they scrambled the ball into the centre and after an interchange of passes ran clear through some lukewarm tackles to score under the posts.

Once again Mansfield had set themselves the task of playing catch up rugby. Recovering the restart kick Jones snaked through the heart of the Paviors defence, Stringfellow added to weight to the move and Wills ghosted through to within two metres before a high tackle ended his run. The somewhat lenient punishment of a penalty and scrum to Mansfield still left an opening which eventually paid off.

A false start with 5 metre scrum number one was soon rectified with Paviors shoved off their own ball and Holmes diving over. It was ruled that Paviors hands were preventing the try but the next scrum saw Ashley pick and drive, Kirk and Drury taking Mansfield across the line again and Pritchard nursing the ball for a try.  Jones stroked over the conversion to level the scores on ten minutes.

A further ten minutes saw Mansfield dominate. Pritchard and Lyndsay, dominant in the line out , gave Waterhouse the chance to kick Mansfield into attacking situations and the short sharp bursts as Grant, Drury and Ashley attacked close to the breakdown, marshalled by Smedley forced a series of penalties from the Paviors rearguard.

Grant, Pritchard and Holmes combined to drive through the centre but handling mistakes gave the visitors the opportunity to drill the ball long out of defence. Storey tidied and he, Grubb and Symcox returned with interest. Under a towering high ball Symcox called for a mark before launching a sixty metre howitzer into the Paviors half. That confidence and his eagerness to run out from defence to great effect saw John Heath award the young full back his and Brett Communications Man of the Match award.

More line out pressure and Pritchard fed Drury who linked with Kirk before another penalty offence and Jones ended the first quarter with three points to give the Blue and Whites their first lead of the season 10 – 7. For the Mansfield support that was as good as it got. Despite the ability to operate off clean line ball and domination in the scrum the killer instinct and conversion into points was missing.

Always sharp on the counter Paviors moved the ball deep and with Mansfield struggling to get distance on their relieving kicks were able to give their backs the chance to probe. Newton on for Holmes showed pace to cover but a lack of cohesion left gaps which the visitors were quick to exploit. On the half hour they went back in front granted easy passage through the middle of the field. Soon returning to the attack a hack through to the corner was not dealt with and the touch down secured. Then in the final minute of the half in a desperate attempt to claw back a score before the interval Ashley broke thirty metres, his support was slow to arrive and then a loose pass presented Paviors with a run to the posts and their fourth try of the half and a 24 – 10 lead.

Both sides realised the complexion of the game would be dictated by the next score and a cagey quarter ensued with the Burnt Stump side under pressure up front, benefiting from the interpretation of the laws on wheeling, to keep Mansfield out. Hooper marked his entry to the game with a strong run from the back of a line out while Harrison typically burrowed to recover loose ball round the fringes.

However, the next and crucial score went the way of the opposition. With what has been the story of the season so far a disorganised defensive line was breached via a weak tackle and all the attempts to cover could not stop slick handling sending Paviors in between the sticks again.

Quick to counter Jones and Wills linked to move play to the 22, Newton worked away from the line out but it seemed the chance had gone when familiar poor handling knocked on and Paviors had a scrum and put in. The Mansfield snap and drive shoved them off the ball and after the pack then created the wedge Harrison was plunging over.

Needing to score three times it was inevitable that Mansfield would have to take risks. Throwing everything forward the recovery of the long Paviors kicks and explosive bursts from the backs tested the speed and tackling of Symcox and Grubb and Storey had to be secure to claim a mark as back peddling. With ten minutes remaining last ditch defence conceded an easy penalty under the posts and victory was secured.

Both sides still managed to engineer tries to round off the afternoon. A run from Newton and Mansfield had an attacking position. In the melee that followed Stringfellow conjured up a diving, classic, old style scrum half’s pass, out not normally associated with the bulk and agility of a lock, it fed the real scrum half, Smedley, who took Mansfield to twenty points.

Rather than finishing on that high, however, Paviors again attacked, met under par tackling and rounded off their visit to Eakring Road with another try under the posts and a rare win on this ground.

Thanks to results elsewhere Mansfield found themselves one place higher after Saturday but that was no solace to a sombre home dressing room. ‘We’re losing games through missing simple tackles’ summed up Coach Steve Shaw. ’Just when we begin to dominate we make crucial mistakes and gift points. There are many positives but until we cut out the errors we cannot benefit from them.’

There is no better place for those errors to be eliminated than at Kelham Road on Saturday. Something has to give as two of the three sides still looking to open their account this season meet for a local derby at the wrong end of the table. Not just pride at stake but two league points desperately needed by both clubs

Mansfield II v Paviors II - Away

Another monumental team effort from Mansfield 2nds enabled them to overcome an excellent Paviors side 24–20 at the Burnt Stump ground. In tremendous energy sapping heat the whole side gave 110% right up until the final whistle to grind out a hard fought win. An immense set piece and mauling display from the forwards and terrific defence from the back line, set the platform for 2 tries for Tom Newton and further scores came from Lee Garrett and a try on his debut for Ryan Butler. Mark Williams converted two tries. Man of the Match was David Haynes although the whole side played brilliantly and the award could have gone to a number of players.

Mansfield III v Ripley Rhinos I – Away

A rearranged Mansfield Development team travelled to Ripley and came up against a very strong and organised first XV which ended with a 23-15 loss. Arriving late and having to get straight into the game Mansfield took too much time to settle which allowed the warmed up Rhinos to go into the break 17-0 up. The second half was all Mansfield after the young side settled in and taking the game back to Ripley with constant pressure resulting in 3 unconverted tries. 2 late penalties allowed Ripley the win but Mansfield will be kicking themselves for not turning on much before half time and letting the game get away from them. Tries for Mansfield came from D. Chapman, Sheriff and Wharmby.

Mansfield IV v Derby IV - Home

Mansfield 4ths did themselves proud to keep the score to 26-22 against a large Derby outfit. Derby being short of a recognised prop led to uncompetitive scrums being called from the outset which was probably the downfall in the end of the dominant Mansfield forwards. They started on the front foot pinning Derby in their own 22. The first try for Mansfield came after 10 minutes of solid pressure, Cartwright going over route one. From the resulting kick off Mansfield continued the hard work which was rewarded with a try down the right wing by Jenkins. The last 10 mins of each half saw Mansfield tire in the  September heat, letting in a soft try through missed tackles.

Mansfield turned around at half time 10-7 up with everything to play for. The forwards kept them deep in Derbys half for most of the game. In frustration Derby started to kick themselves out of trouble only to find the reliable hands of Payne who ran back at them with a superb up and under only to see the Derby fullback fumble and allow Payne to pick up and score under the posts. 15-7 up woke Derby up who started to run straihter lines. A couple of missed first up tackles let them back in to the game with 2 quick tries. Now 15-17 down Mansfield had it all to do. The heat still a factor Mansfield rampaged once more spreading the ball from left to right, right to left to see Sykes drive over for for their 4th try which was converted by Marson. This drained the Mansfield team which led to Derby again scoring a soft try and desperate tackling in the last 5 mins saw Mansfield give away a penalty under the posts to seal Derby’s victory 22-26.

 

 

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