As the season nears its close, Mansfield aim to win the final piece of silverware on offer, the NLD Plate. But first, they had to get through a tough Ashbourne team who were not going to make this game easy. At times, Mansfield struggled to deal with the pace and power of the visitors and found themselves looking at a sizable gap at half time. However, they were able to regroup and, although they left it late and perhaps made it a little tenser than they would have wanted, managed to score three tries that edged them into the narrowest of victories. One more game remains before the end of the season and the blue-and-whites have their sights firmly set on bringing the plate home with them.

Head coach Anthony Jones was understandably thrilled: ‘We definitely had to work hard for that one. I’m happy with how we ended it but we need to be more consistent next week.’

Mansfield spent large periods of the first half under sustained pressure from the visitors. They were defending well but struggled to get their hands on the ball. The visitors had come to play and were intent on tearing open the defence at any opportunity. It was actually while Mansfield had the ball that their opponents managed to snag the first score. The blue-and-whites, in the process of putting some phases together, dropped the ball, something that would happen with increasing regularity throughout the game, the visitors hacked it through and then outpaced everyone to deftly gather and dive over the line. The conversion was missed but the visitors had stamped their authority on the game, 5-nil.

What followed was periods of stalemate punctuated by the visitors gradually adding to their score. The home team did get themselves on the board, taking advantage of a yellow card to catch and drive a lineout before Daniel Spencer duly equalled the scores. A missed conversion saw the scores remain tied, 5 apiece. The rest of the scores in the first half came from the visitors, who unravelled the home defence on more than one occasion and were a stern test in the pack. The scrums were a real battle and the lineouts, for both teams, struggled to secure a solid platform. With two more tries scored, both converted, Mansfield went into half time 19-5 behind and with a lot to do in the second half.

Mansfield did play more cohesively in the second half but had to contend with the same mistakes being made. However, they were able to exert more pressure on the visitors and their mistakes increased as well. What transpired was a somewhat scrappy but still entertaining and nerve-wracking half of rugby. The home team closed the gap with Rio Turner taking a lovely floated pass before doing his thing and dancing over the tryline. The conversion was missed and the visitors soon cancelled that out with a score of their own. With the final quarter in play, the blue-and-whites were trailing 24-10.

The final quarter saw Mansfield perform much better and put their stamp on the game. They were still dealing with a scrum that was being contested well and a lineout that was never a guarantee but they were making half chances here and there. Some good phases and some good pacey ball delivery meant the home team were able to keep the visitors busy and cracks started to appear. First, debutant Charlie Hare used his pace down the wing to race over the line. Second, some wonderful passing down the line saw a gap open up for Zane Chiappetta to scythe his way through. And finally, with a mere couple of minutes left on the clock, another break through the middle of the pitch and some crisp passing saw Spencer power through to the line to add his second. With one conversion added by Taran Elms, the home team won a final penalty and gladly kicked the ball of the pitch to emerge winners with the narrowest of margins, 27-24.

This was not Mansfield’s smoothest performance, and for large periods they were having to deal with a physical and robust Ashbourne side who, to give them credit, tore through the defence, moreso than has been seen so far this season. But Mansfield dug deep and were able to weather that ferocity and keep chugging away, chipping away at the lead. It paid dividends and they now go on to the final at Lady Bay in Nottingham this coming Saturday to hopefully close out what has already been a wonderful season with a bit of silverware.