With a new coaching team in place and a handful of new additions to the squad, this season gives Mansfield the opportunity to banish the ghosts of the last 12 months and really find their groove again. With newly promoted Tupton their opponents this past Saturday, they had a real challenge to get past a side with the wind in their sails. It was hard at times, and Mansfield were still their own worst enemy on occasions, but they held firm and weathered a pretty powerful storm to emerge victorious.

New head coach Anthony Jones was happy with the victory: ‘we made life difficult at times but I thought our defence kept us in the game and I’m pleased we were able to grind out the win.’

While Jones was pleased with the overall result, it’s likely he was less pleased with the opening couple of minutes. A yellow card barely after kickoff saw Mansfield immediately reduced to 10 and, with Tupton opting to largely forgo any attempts to kick the ball in favour of a direct running approach, it meant pressure was swiftly being exerted on the home defence. However, Mansfield withstood the tide and all Tupton had to show for the numerical advantage was two missed penalty attempts, something that would come back to haunt them.

The first half was a largely even affair. Both teams defended strongly and, at times, the game was at risk of boiling over as off-the-ball niggles distracted from any points being scored. The scrums were largely even, the momentum swinging both ways at various points. However, by the end of the half only a single penalty separated the teams, fly half Ollie Smith getting the blue-and-whites on the board. An exchange of penalties and both teams having solid defensive walls meant that tries looked to be a luxury. Tupton’s ill-discipline cost them a yellow card of their own in the lead up to half time. With the half time score reading 3-0 to Mansfield and both teams struggling to make try-scoring opportunities, the second half was still all to play for.

However, the second half became even more a war of attrition than the first. Tupton enjoyed the lion’s share of both possession and territory in the second period but struggled to do anything meaningful with it. The home team couldn’t get themselves on the right side of the referee, conceding a barrage of penalties that not only kept them under pressure but largely nullified the few counter attack opportunities they had.

This ill-discipline started to see the momentum swing to the visitors. Two successful shots at goal saw them edge out in front on the scoreboard, 6-3, and it seemed like all the advantage was theirs. While Mansfield were able to gain some possession, and did make some line breaks, they were unable to take advantage. However, in a close game like this, one play can make all the difference, and when a penalty to the visitors was turned over, the ball found its way out to Rio Turner, by way of a quite sublime pass from Alan Symcox. Turner had prodded and probed the Tupton defence a handful of times already but this time just relied on sheer pace to shimmy his way past 4 defenders from 60 metres out and score under the posts. This helped Turner secure matchday sponsor Woodforde’s Brewery’s Player of the Match award. A successful conversion from Smith meant that, against the run of play, the blue-and-whites had re-taken the lead, 10-6.

And that was how the game finished. Tupton had dominated possession for the half and still had time to make their final play but Mansfield managed to get their hands on the ball and clear it off the pitch to hear the relieving sound of the final whistle. Not a pretty victory by any means but a stellar defensive display that meant, despite all their possession and territory, the visitors never really troubled the try line. With the first game under their belts and some of the pre-season cobwebs blown away, the blue-and-whites have now once again enjoyed the taste of victory. A game on the road next week gives them the opportunity to build on this and really set out an early marker on the league.