Mansfield Colts Retain the U19 Notts Cup
Mansfield 15 - 10 Paviors
Mansfield Colts retained the U19 Notts Cup defeating local rivals Paviors 15-10 in a hard fought game played in perfect spring conditions on Sunday afternoon at Eakring Road. It was always going to be a close encounter, the blue and whites had narrowly edged the league encounter earlier in the season by a single point and it was Paviors who started the better of the two sides, only solid Mansfield defence preventing them from scoring. Paviors deservedly opened the scoring on 12 minutes thanks to a penalty in front of the posts when Mansfield strayed offside.
The occasion appeared to get the better of teams with numerous handling errors and strong defence combining to prevent further scores. Mansfield finally managed to break the defensive stranglehold on 20 minutes when centre Ryan Hough broke free only for the final pass to go to ground. Mansfield had an opportunity to level the scores on the stroke of half time with a long range penalty attempt only to see the kick go agonisingly wide of the upright and it was Paviors who went into the break 3 points ahead.
The second period started as the first had finished with both teams battling for any advantage, the only scoring opportunity a snap drop goal from Mansfield 10 Ross Elms pushed slightly wide. The blue and whites were slowly starting to gain the ascendancy and began to apply sustained pressure on the Paviors line, they were rewarded on 50 minutes with a penalty in front of the posts which was successfully converted by John-Ross Ward to level the scores.
Mansfield regained the ball directly from the re-start and took the play deep into Paviors territory eventually winning a scrum inside the 22. Paviors continued to defend heroically but the next phase of play saw scrum half Adam Shaw feed a rampaging Gareth Gripton just inside the 22 who was unstoppable, dragging several Paviors defenders over the line with him. Ward added the conversion to make the score 10-3 to Mansfield.
Five minutes later the blue and whites were once again in control, winger Jonathan Fox kicked through only for the chase to be illegally blocked. Possession was retained from the resultant scrum and the ball spun out wide creating a guilt edged try scoring opportunity only for play to pulled back for crossing. This escape seemed to spur on Paviors and with 10 minutes to go their excellent open side ran in from half way to tie the scores at 10-10.
The blue and whites had to re-group quickly, they did just that controlling play for the next five minutes and were rewarded when open side flanker Ellis Keegan burrowed over from close quarters to give Mansfield a slender 5 point advantage. The final five minutes were as tense as the preceding 65 but generally played out in midfield with no further scoring chances. At the final whistle the large crowd erupted with delight and relief in equal measure to celebrate another famous victory for Mansfield Colts, the squad now move on to the Three Counties final in two weeks time as they attempt to repeat the double they achieved last year.
