With the festive season now out of the way, business once again picked up as the league restarted earlier this month. Or at least, it would have done if Mother Nature played by the rules. Nobody wants snow after Christmas! Yet down it fluttered, ruining what should have been a home game to kick off the second half of the season. Instead, it came down to this past Saturday for Mansfield to run out for the first time at Eakring Road in 2026. However, the slightly longer break didn’t seem to have any adverse effects as the blue-and-whites weathered the less snowy but still rather painful storm of visitors Loughborough and came out victorious. The two teams have played each other twice this season already, once in the league and once in the cup, with Mansfield victorious both times so this put a nice bow on a late Christmas present for the blue-and-whites.

Head coach Anthony Jones was happy with the way they performed after a long break: ‘I thought we looked well rested and hungry. A couple of mistakes but we’ll work on those for next week.’

For the first quarter, the game was largely even, both teams trading possession, territory and tries. An early try from Josh Housely showed that the home team were picking up where they left off. A successful conversion by Taran Elms took the blue-and-whites into an early 7-nil lead.

But Loughborough weren’t about to take that lying down, and so began a back of forth exchange of toil, territory and tries. The visitors used their possession well to keep recycling the ball through multiple phases, keeping the home team on their feet and making them work.
Ultimately, they were able to breach the defence and open up their scoring, a successful conversion levelling the scores, 7-7. Mansfield were more than up to the challenge, keeping the possession flowing with forays out in to the backs. This paid off for Lewis Cowlishaw as he jinked through to score the first of what would be a brace for him. The conversion was missed but the home team were back in the lead, 12-7. And so the pendulum swung back to the visitors. Loughborough exerted sustained pressure on the Mansfield line until the only way to stop them was illegally. A yellow card to the home team and a quick tap saw the visitors power their way to the line. The conversion was missed and the scores were tied up once again, 12 apiece.

This was where Mansfield began to pull away. The teams were largely evenly matched but the visitors began to make mistakes. A dropped ball here, an interception there, a charge down just to compound the misery. It wasn’t that they suddenly started to play badly, it was simply that advantage and momentum swung back towards the blue-and-whites and stayed there. A penalty saw the home team kick for the corner and utilise their powerful forward pack, Phil Pogmore directing from the back and emerging from the resulting pile of bodies over the line. As Loughborough tried to mount an attack, a charge down flipped the script and saw Cowlishaw complete his brace, helping him pick up the player of the match award from matchday sponsors the Mansfield Vets. Just before half time, Kyan Johnson benefited from more pressure being plied on and added his name to the score sheet. With Elms converting this final try of the half, the game had pivoted towards the home team, a nice 29-12 lead providing some cushion going into the second half.

The second half followed much the same pattern. Loughborough opened the scoring after shoring up their attack and tightening the screw on the home defence. Multiple penalties and consistent phases saw them begin the half with a try they desperately needed. The conversion was missed, the score read 29-17.

However, that would be their last score of the day. Mansfield were able to keep the pressure on and, despite making some mistakes of their own, made sure the scoreboard kept ticking over. A penalty from Elms added an extra three before an interception saw defence become attack and Rio Turner end up the beneficiary, racing the last 30 metres to score. Turner wasn’t done yet, though. Another Mansfield interception, perhaps the biggest sign of the kind of frustration that plagued Loughborough’s attack, was chipped ahead and Turner outpaced everyone else on the park, his own team mates included, to make sure he was first to gather before popping it to Reece Flowers Lane who dived over to claim the final try. Elms converted to take the final score to 44-17.

This was a largely cohesive performance from a team that has had an enforced break. They didn’t have it all their own way and were made to work hard for every point they claimed. Loughborough will no doubt be frustrated. They had their time with the ball and had plenty of territory but just couldn’t find that last pass to bring it all together. For Mansfield, there can be no complacency now, there’s real promise to take this season by the scruff of the neck and purge the phantom of previous years.