SENIOR RESULTS
Mansfield fails
to avoid the drop.
Midlands 2 East
NORTHAMPTON OLD
SCOUTS 21 MANSFIELD 15
At 4.25 on
Saturday the shrill blast of the referees whistle saw Northampton arms in the
air and Mansfield slumped to their knees. Despite a late rally in recent weeks
games were running out and this narrow defeat at the hands of fellow strugglers
condemned the Blue and Whites to life in division three next year. Even in this
contest better discipline, better control at vital stages and better use of the
wind in the first half could have kept the flickering hopes of survival alive.
Right from
the start it was obvious that the tension of the day and a strong blustery wind
would contribute to handling mistakes in an error-strewn match. An early penalty
to the home side went begging before a quick free kick by Shaw saw Mansfield
create waves of attack through Kirk, Spencer and Pritchard to move play from 22
to 22.
It was then
Mansfield’s turn to see a kickable penalty curl wide on the wind before
Pritchard reacted quickest at an untidy Old Scouts line out and saw Stringfellow
wrestling his way clear. Robinson twice led Mansfield through from rucks and
Spencer had support from Drury and Holmes to create another penalty opportunity
on seven minutes. Symcox judged the conditions to open the scoring.
Despite a
fluffed restart Mansfield continued to want to move the ball in hand and drive
when using the wind to peg the home side close to their line would have exerted
more pressure. This cost dear and within five minutes a penalty in front
levelled the scores.
Great
Mansfield pressure followed with the kick off recovered, pressure on the home
defenders and a series of 5 metre scrums. Spencer made it to the line but was
held up. He went again with Holmes but again the way was blocked before
Calladine was thwarted and the siege lifted. Good use of the touchline brought
play back to the 22 and Mansfield’s defence was sorely tested before straying
offside. Old Scouts declined the kick at goal and opted for a 5-metre line out.
The catch and drive was well executed and the try secured for an 8-3 lead.
A perfect
line drill and Holmes and Spencer were again taking Mansfield deep into the 22
but discipline slipped. A penalty award to Mansfield was reversed and instead of
an easy three points they found themselves back at the wrong end of the pitch.
Struggling
to contain the Old Scouts wheeling of the scrum the back row were scrambling to
provide Shaw with the ball to release the backs. Stringfellow executed the crash
ball and Rushby twice entered the line at speed to take Mansfield forward. Shaw
chipped to space before a block gave a penalty and line out seven metres from
the line. Grant replaced Robinson and Mansfield looked to secure a pushover try
before Jones appeared on the blindside and plunged across the line with two
defenders. Unfortunately it was also the referees blindside and unsighted he
could only bring play back for another scrum. Mansfield drove again and this
time he could see Pritchard was in control of the ball for an equalising try.
Realising
that more points were needed to balance out the advantage of the wind Grant and
Stringfellow worked the play back from the kick off, Storey attempted to find a
way around the defence on the right and Holmes spun through tackles before
feeding Shaw. As the half came to an end a high hanging ball from Wills just
eluded the speedy Zacharia with the line begging.
Inevitably
the second half saw probing kicks from the home side containing play in the
Mansfield 22. Rushby and Storey both pulled off try stopping tackles. Holmes
somehow emerged from a maul with ball taken in by Old Scouts and Storey and
Pritchard combined to move play twenty metres forward. Jones and Rushby
interchanged passes for another attempted break out before a mistaken line out
call saw Mansfield lose possession and gift a second try to the home scrum half.
The
Mansfield kick off was drilled straight back and Symcox first secured the high
ball then wriggled his way clear from the attackers and gave Storey, Pritchard
and Stringfellow a chance to attack. The next movement saw Calladine leading the
way and Rushby and Wills keen to take play on. Spencer worked well from a pick
up at the back of the scrum and with Old Scouts feeling the pressure penalties
flowed. Twice Shaw tapped and with play on half way and confusion in the defence
two of Mansfield’s youngsters created a vision of an escape. Zacharia collected
the ball and weaved at speed across half way. Apparently isolated he conjured
one more jink and sent Calladine into the clear where event the speediest scout
was not going to prevent him getting the try under the posts. Symcox obliged
with the conversion and Mansfield were 15-13 in front.
Williams
came on for Rushby and aided Jones after he turned ball over. Holmes and Kirk
attempted to move play away from the Mansfield 22 but after fumbles and a knock
on over anxiousness was the sides undoing. With cover in place to absorb the
home offensive unnecessary hands in a ruck cost a penalty and the Blue and
Whites were a point behind. Five minutes to go and unable to work their way into
the wind Mansfield conceded a try wide on the left. Six points behind a
converted try could have stolen the game but despite invention to create a half
chance for Storey and Zacharia it was not to be.
Mansfield
shorn of so much experience with retirements and long-term injuries to key
seasoned campaigners has leant heavily on its youth policy through the year. The
squad at Northampton had seven under 20’s’ six 18 or under and an average age of
just 25. Their lessons may have been hard but increasingly have been learnt and
their Saturday night message was ‘we’ll be back!’
With the
Easter Weekend coming up Mansfield have to wait until April 14th before their final league game and the chance to bow out in style against Melton
Mowbray. That will also sharpen the side up before their County Cup Semi-final
at Eakring Road against Paviors on April 28th.
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 2nd 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.
CLICK FOR ALL THE OTHER MIDLANDS 2 EAST RESULTS,
COURTESY OF RUGBY ROUND-UP
