A crowd of 500 people gathered at Eakring Road to see Mansfield take on Neil Back’s runaway league leaders Rugby Lions in a thrilling encounter, which resulted in a scoreline that, to some large degree, disguises the closeness of this game.

Gracious in their hard earned victory the Lions acknowledged that the blue and whites have given them yet another stern test following their first meeting back in September. Perhaps the most significant statistic of note is that for 39 minutes the game was scoreless.

The Lions looked to take the game to Mansfield from the start and for the first 15 minutes there was a good deal of defending to be done. It would be difficult to single any one player out in terms of performance because every man in a blue and white shirt played their part and did their job superbly throughout. This was reflected by the match day sponsors ‘The Ladies of Mansfield Rugby Club’ bestowing the man of the match award on the whole team!

Despite the opposition having the Lions share of the ball they could not get over Mansfield’s line and such was the determination in defence that the home side was able to force a number of turnovers in the first half an hour, much to the delight of the fervent home support. An indicator of the frustration at not scoring saw the visitors Fly Half Ben Gollings failing in an attempted dropped goal after 30 minutes to try and get at least something on the scoreboard. The tension mounted as numerous attacks were thwarted by resolute defence. The clock ticked to that 39 minute marker before a hole finally appeared and the ball was recycled for the Lions first converted try in the corner.

Having defended so well it was frustrating for the home team to then concede a gift of a try five minutes later to a charge down but the Lions are top of the league for a reason and they take the their chances when they come. With 10 minutes of injury time played Tim Pritchard was dismissed to the sin bin and the visitors took full advantage by taking a quick tap from the resultant penalty to record a third try to bring the first half scoreline to a close with an incredulous 17-0 scoreline.

The visitors bonus point try came with just two minutes of the second half played after a brief lapse in concentration saw the scrum half skip round the ruck to score. The task was hard enough before but with 14 men, 10 minutes of added on time at the end of the first half and the first few minutes of the second, it proved to be a very damaging period as they opened up a 24 point gap.

For those whose faith was briefly shaken they needn’t have worried as a fully restored Mansfield side then rallied courageously to take the game to their opposition. The homes side’s set piece was solid throughout and the lineout functioned superbly. It was from this platform that the blue and whites took their turn to exert some pressure and after six minutes played Adam Shaw caught his opposite number at a five metre scrum and Skipper Tom Calladine stripped him of the ball to crash over and record Mansfield’s first try. Lee Shaw converted and at 24-7 the blue and whites were well and truly in the game. Despite the fact that things were starting to even up the Lions still had something to say and from a catch and drive they recorded their final score after twelve minutes played to bring the score to a flattering 31-7.

The ‘never say die’ attitude that Mansfield brought to the game was starting to pay dividends and on the fifteen minute mark they produced the try of the game. As the visitors attacked, Mansfield forced yet another turnover and Ash Wills picked up to feed James Bennett down the short side. He raced 50 metres up-field and was able to off load to Lee Shaw in support, who finished off the move much to the delight of the sizable crowd.

At 31-12 and their tails up, the blue and whites pressed on and it was the Lions turn to spend large parts of the next half an hour defending. Mansfield came close to another spectacular try again after Ryan Hough and James Bennett broke 50 metres down the short side again to take play deep into opposition territory. The professionals from Rugby were now feeling the pressure and Mansfield demonstrated that they are only amateur in a fiscal sense as their attitude more than matched their opposition’s.

Coach Steve Shaw used his replacements wisely as Coleman, Cogan and Newton entered the fray and kept up the momentum. It was a proud day for his team as he commented, “We knew it was going to be tough but this was one of our best performances. Not many sides will score three tries against the Lions and the way we defended was outstanding”. Indeed it was and one thing is for sure, the Warwickshire side will have woken up on Sunday morning knowing that they were in a game.

Former England Sevens, Bath and Harlequins star Ben Gollings at Fly half for the Lions will not want to watch the video for what happened next. Closing in on Mansfield’s 22 he threw out a long speculative pass that was intercepted by Ash Wills and there followed a foot race over 60 metres which Wills won as the Fly Half tried to catch him and make amends with a desperate lunge and tap tackle. With 36 minutes played Mansfield had won the second half with three tries and more points than their illustrious opposition as the final score finished at 31-17.

In the final analysis the Lions deserved their victory. However, when you consider that Back’s professionals have regularly racked up scorelines of 60 and 70 points this season and indeed 100 against Manchester the previous week it provides a degree of perspective for this performance. Whilst the Lions will push on in their quest for Premiership glory Mansfield, as a strictly amateur club, can sleep safe in the knowledge that there is as much glory in playing for a badge that evokes a tremendous amount of pride in those who wear it, have worn it and support it.

The challenge continues this weekend as Mansfield face another tough test away at Syston and you can follow the action on Twitter @MansfieldRugby.