Scunthorpe Colts - 0 v Mansfield Colts - 13
Mansfield Colts maintained their winning run away at Scunthorpe on Sunday afternoon with a 13-0 victory which didn't really do justice to their play on the day. Mansfield were the dominant side for most of the first half with Scunthorpe only rarely threatening to break through but only had a slender 5-0 half time lead thanks to a try from blind side flanker John Tasker following excellent driving play by the pack from a 5 metre line out. Scunthorpe re-grouped at half time and started the second half strongly, only excellent defensive play from Mansfield prevented them from scoring. Mansfield rode out the storm and further extended the lead with a penalty from the boot of Jonno Williams mid way through the half. The game was eventually won when centre Andy Zacharia intercepted a Scunthorpe attack and raced down field, the ball was eventually released to captain and No 8 Aiden McGregor who sprinted home from 30 metres to score running over the opposition full back in the process. The team return to league action next week at Kestevern already assured of their place in the last eight of the three counties cup.
Mansfield U17 - 53 v Newark U17 - 0
Mansfield ’s U17’s entertained Newark U17’s in a league match on Sunday morning. In perfect weather conditions at Eakring Road they ran out comfortable winners 53-0. This was in stark contrast to the previous week’s trip to Boston where a strong wind made rugby difficult in Mansfield’s 34-0 victory. Scorers at Boston were Ryan Hough with a brace, Ryan Croll, Josh Metcalfe, Jonathan Fox and Callum Wood with Ross Elms converting two.
The good conditions this week enabled Mansfield to play some excellent rugby from the start. On seven mins, after continual pressure in the visitors’ twenty two, Adam Shaw was able to collect the ball from the back of a ruck and break the game line to score. On 13 mins the lead was extended to 10-0 when a clearance kick was caught and the Mansfield backs counter attacked firstly to the right and then to the left for Jordan Bettridge to power over in the corner. Newark then enjoyed a period of pressure in the Mansfield twenty two but the defence held firm. The final score of the half came when the forwards secured the ball at a scrum, before releasing it swiftly down the line for Jonathan Cordin to score in the corner to give the home side a 15-0 lead.
The second period started at an electric pace with Mansfield scoring 3 tries within the first 10minutes. Mansfield collected the kick off, pumped the ball long and then from the resulting line out, spun the ball wide for full back Fox to join the line and score. Elms converted. The second kick off was collected by the forwards, then driven back before being released to the backs, who kicked over the top for Elms to collect and score. The difficult conversion from out wide bisected the posts to give Mansfield a 29-0 lead. The third kick off was collected by Gareth Gripton, who made good ground before releasing Shaw, who kicked through and chased the ball down to score between the posts. Elms made no mistake with the simple conversion to extend the lead to 36-0.
Newark rallied for a short period and forced Mansfield back into their own twenty two, with a number of penalties but, the rest bite was short lived as Mansfield again started to dominate possession and territory. The forwards won the ball at a scrum and released the backs who played the ball quickly through the hands to winger Bettridge, who scored the points in the corner. Then, a clever cross field kick was collected by Croll from the hands of the Newark defence and he placed the ball between the posts for an easy conversion for Elms and a 48-0 lead. The game was brought to an end when a desperate clearance kick was taken by John Ross Ward who side stepped the defence before releasing Fox to take the final score to 53-0 and give Mansfield a deserved victory.
