Mansfield Colts v Scunthorpe – Home / v Oakham - Away
Mansfield Colts started the defence of their three counties title with a solid 20-7 victory over Market Rasen and Louth on a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon at Eakring Road. Outscoring the opposition by two tries to one, the final score didn’t really do Mansfield justice and the result could quite easily have been more emphatic had a different view been taken on the four occasions they crossed the line and appeared to satisfactorily ground the ball. Once the Mansfield forwards had gained the upper hand half way through the first half the result was never really in doubt but at this point the home side only had two penalties from Fly Half Jordan Bailey to show for their efforts. Then 25 minutes in, another drive from the pack, prop Eddie Simmons broke off the maul to crash over from 5m and make the half time score 13-0. Rasen rallied at the start of the second half and scored a breakaway try under the post to close the gap to 6 points. This kick started the home side into action but they unable to convert long spells camped on the opposition line into points. The game was finally put out of Market Rasen’s reach 10 minutes from time when Simmons emerged from a maul with the ball to score his second, Bailey added the conversion to his previous success to make the final score 20-7.
Mansfield U14 v Matlock U14 / Sheffied U14
Mansfield U14’s set out this weekend to play 2 trials games to find their final team positions for their 22 man squad. A good start on Friday evening against a depleted Matlock XV answered a lot of questions winning 27-7. 4 tries being scored from good interplay. The forwards worked particularly well, Joe Needham securing good ball for the rest to play off. New to the Fullback position Ben Leivers-Riley also had a good start running in 2 tries. Further to this Ricky Evans worked hard to score a solo effort under the posts and Jordan Glen pinched a try at Stand-off. Dean Steffen, Elliot Wynn-Higgins, Ashley Eames, Joshua Crosby and others switched play from the forwards to the backs at some stage to test their all round abilities. After the positions had settled down Mansfield started to out play Matlock which was a stark contrast to the Sheffield game on the Sunday where the side was short of 7 regular A team players due to various reasons. Although down on numbers Mansfield still fielded 15 to give Sheffield a game. It took 20 mins for Mansfield to start playing with effect. The coaches were not looking for scorers but for positional play and aptitude. Mansfield had it all to do against a big, well organised Sheffield squad and came away fairly happy with their efforts. Encouraging play from Ashley Eames, Sean Harrison, Morgan Taylor and Jordan Glen made the visit worth while. Daniel Engyel was also worth a mention for his relentless efforts on this sunny Sunday morning. Training games are now over and they need to knuckle down for this Sundays trip to Market Deeping in the NLD Cup.
Mansfield U17 v Lichfield U17
On a warm dry Sunday morning Mansfield U17’s travelled to Lichfield to face the Staffordshire champions of two years running. This was to be the tough warm up game required by both teams prior to starting their League campaign next weekend. The game was played as four 20 min periods to allow both Managers to experiment with their large squads and give all players game time. The first period was evenly contested with Lichfield making the break through after 10 min when from a quick penalty they scored in the corner. Mansfield quickly replying when the Forwards secured the ball from a line out and drove over for Ellis Keegan to get the vital touch and level the score at 5-5. Lichfield dominated the second period scoring three excellent tries, with their backs running good lines before off loading to the try scorers. Two tries were converted to give the home team a 24-5 lead. The third period saw the start of the fight back, when the ball was recycled from the back of a ruck and spun wide for Jordan Bettridge to score the try which was converted to reduce the deficit to 24-12. This was further reduced after a period of pressure in the Lichfield 22. The ball was released from the scrum and Adam Shaw side stepped the defence to give the blue and whites a chance at 24-17. The fourth period saw Mansfield play some of their better rugby and draw level, when from a quick penalty Jono Fox made an excellent break before releasing Daniel Dugdale to place the ball between the posts and the give visitors an easy conversion. The game was wrapped up in the final minutes when Shaw moved the ball wide from the base of a scrum for Jonathan Cordin to round the defence and score to give Mansfield a 29–24 victory. This was an excellent game of rugby played by two good sides that should do well in their respective league competitions.
