Mansfield’s run of form so far this season has seen them pick up impressive victories with consistent performances. Consistency was something of an elusive trait in previous seasons but this past Saturday at Eakring Road saw the blue-and-whites manage to grind out a win against a combative and powerful Mosborough side to continue an unbeaten run, reaching a fifth consecutive victory. In what came down to a single penalty, Mansfield weathered some pretty fierce storms and were able to not only create their own chances but halt some determined phases to emerge victorious.

Head coach Anthony Jones was unsurprisingly happy: ‘We’ve shown real consistency over the last five weeks and it’s good to see how well we’re now closing out these close games.’

Often with games with close scorelines, they may not reflect the true tale of the tape, one team may dominate early but take their foot off the gas and let the concentration slip. This was not the case here. The scoreline perfectly reflects the game and how, ultimately, victory was decided by success from place kicks.

The home team scored first, actually against the run of play, as Mosborough threw a wide pass that was expertly intercepted by Taran Elms. Elms managed to evade any potential defenders as he raced 55 meters to open up both his team’s and his own personal account. Converting his own kick, Elms took his team into a 7-nil lead.

The visitors were able to get themselves on the board in response with a well taken penalty, closing the gap to four points at 7-3. Both teams spent most of the half battering each other with everything they had, turning over the ball and disrupting whatever they could. A series of consistent phases saw the home team control the ball well and finally find a gap to exploit, Zane Chiappetta being the beneficiary and crashing over the line. The conversion bounced off the post but the home team were back in front, 12-3. Mosborough used pretty much the same playbook to respond in kind a few minutes later, taking lots of ruck ball and poking around the fringes multiple times until they were able to score. Their conversion was also missed, bringing the score to 12-8.

Mansfield were able to gain a bit more distance as the rest of the half played out, Chiappetta again showing attacking prowess to break through tackles and add his second, something that helped on his way to securing matchday sponsor John Heath’s player of the match award. Elms converted to take the score to 19-8. The visitors did add another to keep themselves close but a missed conversion meant that they score was beginning to open up, 19-13. While there wasn’t much between the teams at all, missed kicks were beginning to make a difference. The gap was further widened after Josh Housley smartly took advantage of some confusion in the corner to pounce on a loose ball and take this team’s try tally to 4, securing the bonus point. The conversion was missed but, at half time, Mansfield had a good 24-13 lead.

The second half actually saw the blue-and-whites fail to score any more tries. While they had their fair share of possession, the visitor’s defence simply kept them out. In fact, Mosborough started the half sharper, punishing phases pushing the home team to breaking point and seeing two tries scored to eliminate what had been a comfortable gap. Only one try was converted but it saw the visitors jump into the lead, 25-24.
The remainder of the half became about decision making. With defence being outstanding from both teams, another try was becoming more and more unlikely. This meant it became about taking points whenever the opportunity came up and not, as the famous quote goes, doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. Managing to avoid this particular insanity, both teams had two opportunities to clinch a vital three points from the tee. Ultimately, victory was decided by those two opportunities. Elms was able to deftly slot both of his while the visitors were only able to slot one leaving the final score 30-28 to the home team. Of course, games are about more than just one kick, victory is built over the previous 70 minutes of graft and toil. However, when the score is this close, it is the most heart-breaking of ways to end a contest, but for the strike of the ball.

In past seasons, this may have been a game that the blue-and-whites saw slip away, especially with the second half seeing two quick scores close what had been a relatively comfortable gap. But, there is a renewed sense of cohesion in this squad and that showed here as they kept the scoreboard ticking over in attack and, despite some pretty fierce attempts from their opposition, protected their line in defence. With that determination and calmness, they were able to pick up the full 5 points, and deservedly so.