SENIOR RESULTS
Mansfield left
needing late charge for safety
MIDLANDS 2 EAST
PAVIORS 21
MANSFIELD 17
A
much-improved display from Mansfield but for the second week running no league
points to show from this local derby. Importantly the points on offer went to
fellow strugglers making Mansfield’s bid for survival all the more difficult.
Avoiding the drop is still very much in the Blue and Whites own hands as they
play three of the last four games at home and their only travelling is to bottom
placed Northampton Old Scouts. The majority of those eight points on offer have
to come their way and then the mathematicians can get to work.
After a
slow start the week before Mansfield was asked to quick out of the blocks and
the players responded. Paviors attacked from the kick off but found first Jones
then Wills capitalise on good tackling to send Mansfield into the home 22. A
drive from a line out saw Rushby cutting through the defence before the forwards
set up a series of rolling mauls. Pritchard, Roberts and Holmes all went within
a whisker of touching down but were held.
After
Paviors cleared with a high, hanging ball Symcox showed composure and aided by
Arnold and Rushby turned defence into attack. Grant found himself in unfamiliar
territory as a proxy fly half and having put his clearing kick well down field
was cynically body checked to gift a penalty then line out 15 metres from
Paviors’ line. That line was lost and the home backs opened up. It looked as
though Mansfield had recovered the situation but two fumbles and a loose pass on
the 22 gifted a try under the points. A 7-0 deficit was no reflection of eight
minutes on top.
Still
looking to take the game to the opposition Bacon created space and Pritchard
powered through three tackles. A back row link between Roberts and Shaw set up a
Wills burst down the wing only halted with a last ditch tap tackle that sent him
into touch. Bacon again instigated attack through the middle and with Rushby for
support set a platform. Jones moved play on twisting out of two tacklers arms
before Arnold and Symcox inter changed passes and the young full back cut inside
to score. Jones’s exemplary conversion from a difficult angle put the sides back
level on thirteen minutes.
Try as
Paviors might they were failing to maintain pressure and had their defence
severely tested. Holmes ripped the ball clear in a tackle and again Jones,
Arnold and Symcox attacked the left wing. A penalty and subsequent line out 7
metres out was lost but the chance to try again from ten meters wasn’t
squandered. Kirk Found Pritchard at the top of his jump, as Mansfield drove
forward Drury and Roberts added weight and guile and Holmes was tumbling clear
to score.
Buoyed up
Shaw showed adventure darting clear from the base of the scrum and Wills twice
looked to pin Paviors back with long kicks. Battling performances throughout the
side were holding up Paviors drives and Lindsay and Grant both emerged with
vital ball. Concerted Paviors pressure set up a chance in front of the posts but
Symcox read it, intercepted and took play to half way.
A tinge of
anxiousness was spreading through Mansfield ranks as they clearly felt their
play deserved more points. Loose passes and over elaboration saw moves petering
out where cool heads and consolidation might have unlocked the defence. When
Shaw followed up his own kick and charged down the clearance Mansfield again had
good territory. Roberts simply barged the Paviors defence apart to turn ball
back to Mansfield and Pritchard set a drive with Beaumont on his shoulder but
Paviors held out.
Only a try
between the sides at the break Mansfield ran the Paviors kick off straight back
at them. Again Pritchard was instrumental in setting up a Mansfield attack but
the novel sight of a wing move with Kirk and Lindsay inter passing their way
down the left failed to make it to the line. Kirk was next involved with a vital
tackle and Roberts turned ball back to Mansfield before another body check saw
Wills stopped in his tracks.
On fifty
minutes Stringfellow and Spencer brought fresh legs to replace Roberts and
Lindsay but before the reshaped pack could settle into their game Paviors
capitalised on scrum ball in front of the posts and leapt into a two-point lead.
Despite
Stringfellow recovering the restart and a penalty chance Mansfield were soon
back defending their line. Mansfield’s long kicks for territory were run back at
them and a near carbon copy back row move from the home side eased them to a
21-12 advantage.
Taylor
entered play and had a strong run at the heart of the home defence before Arnold
took two men with him and Holmes spun away to place Mansfield firmly in the home
22. The referee’s patience having been tested once too often Mansfield faced
fourteen men and made the most of it. Four drives close to the Paviors line were
held but finally Spencer had the strength and skill to plunge over and set up a
pulsating last fifteen minutes.
At 21 –1 7
one try would have seen Mansfield take the spoils. Missed penalties by the home
side did nothing to calm the nerves and strong play from Grant, Kirk and
Stringfellow just failed to create the vital score.
The
contrast as the final whistle sounded told everything about how importantly
these sides had viewed this game. Mansfield had shown marked improvement but
still left themselves hunting for the points to claw to safety.
The first
of those three home games comes at 2.15 on Saturday when Hinckley are the
visitors to Eakring Road. The Leicestershire side sit on 17 points in sixth
place, partly thanks to a 42-12 win over the Blue and Whites in October. That
score flattered the home side after Mansfield gifted early points before
matching their hosts. The resolve of last weekend and a large touchline support
could reverse matters and start the great escape.
Mansfield II v Paviors II - Home
Mansfield III v East Retford II – Away
Mansfield 3rd team travelled away to East
Retford in a confident mood after an emphatic win against them earlier in the
season but encountered a strengthened home side finding Retfords 1st team
without a fixture eventually losing 17-7. The usual 'go-forward' attitude of the
young Mansfield side was not apparent this week and an overall lethargic
performance throughout prevented them from gaining ball and a much needed win.
The highlight of the game was the performance of youngster Tommy Blythe at scrum
half making his senior debut at just 17 years old. With the scoreline at 0-0 60
mins into the game it looked like the first score would win it. Retford, with
tactical replacements, started to dominate in the tight and managed to grind out
a hard fought try to put them 5-0 up. They scored again with 5 mins which
Mansfield responded well to and eventually did get in to gear. This all happened
in the last quarter of the game. Mansfield played some great rugby and produced
a fine consolation try through with excellent lines of running by centres L.
Oakden and R. Poulter for Full Back Jonathan Repton to score. The try was
converted by A. Broadhurst.
Mansfield IV v Amber Valley II – Home
After last
weeks high scoring win Mansfield 4ths crashed back down to earth with a hard
fought 6-0 victory over Amber Valley 2nds. In a game where both defences were
dominant only 2 penalty kicks from R. Pruden split the 2 teams. Man of the match
A. Payne was one of the few players to break the gain line but even then was
thwarted by good secondary cover. Mansfield just about deserved their win on a
day where they never played at their best
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