Moseley 23 Doncaster 9

[gary]

Great result (maybe that's all that matters) but I thought we were flattered by the final scoreline. Apart from our try in the first 5 minutes which was excellent they completely dominated the first half and a better team than Doncaster would have been out of sight by half time.

Then we dominated the second half but for most of it were unable to turn possession and territory into a clear lead. In honesty until the Buster Lawrence try it all seemed very nervy. With our driving maul and when the forwards went straight up the middle I felt we should have translated this possession and tactics into a much more comfortable lead.

Having said all this maybe this cushion will give us the confidence to go out and play a bit more.

A word about Anthony Carter. I have doubted him at centre. Today he was excellent as was his centre partner Greg King. One of these days I would like to say something nice about Simon Hunt but this was another game where his contribution was negligible.

A good win. Not safe yet though.

[observer]

Not sure I agree Gary (factually you're right ref possession) but if you are chasing the game then the winning side can (to a certain extent) allow opposition possession...as long as they don't score of course.

I felt we had control of the game (not that I was ever over confident until we got the final try!). Possession is pretty and stuff - but points are what counts.....so if you're ahead, who cares how much the oppo has hands on the ball?

I think (final score correct - just the scorers not sure about)

Moseley 23 – 9
Moseley scorers (to be confirmed)
Tries: Ryan Glyn; Buster Lawrence
Conversions: Glyn Hughes; Ollie Thomas
Penalties: Glyn Hughes 3

[stevep]

I thought that was an excellent Moseley performance. Superb defence, great tackling, and a determination to do everything necessary to take the points. The line-out was sound, the scrum was immense. Buster's try made sure Donny didn't get a losing bonus point. And the sun shone! More of the same please! :-)

[gav1978]

I have to say I agree with Observer, although I do take Gary's point about being nervy until the final try on board - I think that must come with the territory of supporting Mose. I would also concur re: Anthony Carter. Couple of good breaks from him today and he looked comfortable in his new position.

And to be fair to Simon Hunt - did anyone see the ridiculous obstruction their winger was guilty of in the second half when Simon was chasing down in their 22? The linesman clearly saw it and gave an "unofficial" warning to the Donny player during a break in play 5 mins later - not much use to us then though!

I thought we caught them cold with the quick try at the start (and as an aside, how great was it to see us score early rather than handing early points to the opposition!) and did what we needed to do thereafter. They had a lot of pressure and possession but the defence did its job - I thought the defensive line was up quickly and we tackled well in the main throughout the game.

We were dominant in the pack as well which was good to see - and Doncaster had some big lads playing so I hadn't expected this at the outset. I thought the lineout was good from both sides - lots of quick ball but perhaps Donny edged this.

All in all a positive afternoon - make no mistake though, there is still work to be done in the remainder of the season. I thought Donny moved the ball around quickly today and I can see them picking up points - they carried some threat in their backs although they'll need to sort out their scrum if they want to give them a decent base to build on. I thought despite the scoreline, they looked a better side than Jersey did on their visit to Billesley Common - and Jersey seem to be busily strengthening their squad for the final run-in.

[welshexile1963]

Good game great win, however the kicking out of hand was pretty dire, give the ball to the forwards and lets try and run off some of their work, but all in all very happy keep working hard boys and we'll be safe.

[philhall]

Lovely to see a good win today - only Pam and my 6th home game this season - and I certainly felt Moseley deserved to win. But why, oh why, oh why do the backs keep kicking the ball away? I am led to believe it is to gain territory. Well, that is fine if territory is gained but inevitably it is NOT SO and the kick from hand is all too often fielded and returned - often with interest. At least if the ball is taken up-field by hand before it is lost, howsoever, then at least there is a decent number of players in the oppositions faces as it were when the ball is lost.

Today I took specific a note of recording all penalties, to whom / against whom and where they were in the field of play. If my observations were correct and I can read my notes well enough I recorded a total of 23 penalties; 6 against Doncaster and 17, yes 17, against Moseley. Of the 17 penalties against Moseley 8 were in the first half and the other 9 were in the second half.

Of the 8 first half penalties 4 were inside the Moseley 22 area, 1 was just short of the Moseley 10 yard line, 2 were in the Doncaster 10 yard area and 1 was just over the Doncaster 10 yard line.

In the second half 2 were in the Moseley 22. 1 was just outside of the Mosley 22, 2 more ( just one minute apart ) were in the Moseley 10 yard area, 3 were in the Doncaster 10 yard area and one was just short of the Doncaster 22.

Of the 7 penalties against Doncaster 3 were inside the Moseley 22 whilst the other 3 were close to the Doncaster 10 yard line.

Considering that Moseley, throughout the game, conceded a total of 10 penalties against them in their own half they were lucky to have got away with only 9 points against them.

The game itself was quite entertaining and the Moseley score within two minutes of the start certainly appeared to set the scene. But it was not to be. Quite the contrary. Doncaster, in the larger main had all the territory and a lot of possession - certainly in the first half. But Mosley broke a couple of times; one a superb break through by Carter. Unfortunately, Carter does not have the pace of Hayter but, none-the-less, where was the right and left shoulder support. To my thinking that was a try gone begging and to add insult to injury Carter was penalised, rather harshly, for allegedly holding on.

In the second half the Moseley forward took control. Two superb driving mauls of about 30 yards each had Doncaster in all sorts of trouble - which was splendid considering the Doncaster were not a small pack by any stretch of the imagination. In the tight I felt Moseley were in overall control without being overtly dominant whereas Doncaster could contest but could not impose themselves on the Moseley 8 - even when they were down to 7 for ten minutes when Powell was sin binned a minute before half time.

As with England, Moseley, to a lesser degree - and just for the moment - can call upon proven and impact reserves from the bench, which is something of a novelty considering the size of our playing squad. Wilkes, Dickinson, Robinson and Lawrence all went on and maintained the momentum which was just as well because I never thought to dust my boots off - just in case.

Pam and I thoroughly warmed to the weather, the club-house camaraderie, the game and the result and left the ground upbeat and optimistic for the challenges ahead. The only blot on the day was the large scores at London Scottish. Ah well, onwards and upwards. Come on Mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooose.

[andyj]

I agree with most of the comments posted. Doncaster came to play and their lines of running were both inventive and entertaining. If it hadn't have been for some excellent defensive work by Mose they would have been out of sight in the first half. I find it really frustrating that with Maggs as a former high class centre we have not found a pattern of play which showcases the undoubted talents of our three quarter line. Simon Hunt was a spectator for virtually the whole game. Also as Phil metions why oh why do we find it necessary to keep kicking the ball away? I brought with me a friend who played rugby at a high level and he was quiet for periods of the game and then just uttered the word "boring" when we once again kicked possession away.
Doncaster will roll other teams over so we have to build on yesterday particularly at home if we are going to stay in this division. We have the squad to entertain the crowd and they must be given the platform to do this as we do have a batch of floating support who will vote with their feet. Having supported Mose for well over 20 years I will be at all the games but I am not convinced others will.

[Littlemissminx]

Really enjoyed the game, happy with the result. Just want to point out when saying Simon Hunt was a spectator he can only play if they use him on the wing.

[rickroyce]

The sort of game that I can only enjoy in retrospect,lying in bed on Sunday morning replaying all the best bits in my mind - the horrendous consequences of going down are too great for me to enjoy it on the day. So I don't care how boring the game like this is as long as we win it - and it wasn't boring for me. I can see how a one off visitor might feel though. To me, the time for entertainment is when you're safe.

I'm not an officionado, but it seemed to me that the lineout was like a game of chess - fascinating - and the scrums absolutely superb. We held them even when down to seven men, not only that, but beat them in mid field securing a penalty in the process.

The driving mauls were absolutely superb and thrilling - pity we gained some thirty yards on one occasion only to be back where we started a minute later due to good Donny kicking from hand.

It seemed to me that both sides played exceptionally well - what tackling by our boys though. I can still see somebody literally flying through the air as though on wings over the heap in front of our posts!

As to kicking the ball away, I'm not so sure. Presumably it's a good idea to put a ball high into the air and the very strong sun in order to ask questions and in the hope that the opposition will drop it which, to their undoubted credit Donny didn't.

If you catch the ball from just outside your own 22 from an opposition kick, seems to me that you have only a couple of options - either kick it backwards and forwards till someone makes a mistake, kick really high and fairly short or run like hell and mind you don't get caught away from support - like we did on one of the rare occasions when we tried it. Not sure that 'coaching from the stand' helps. Presumably there's a game plan and if instructions from the coach clash with instructions from the crowd (which could be unnerving)..... what would you do? And as I have said, to hell with the 'entertainment' (percieved) when the stakes are so high. The future of the club hangs on remaining in the Championship in my view. Look what happened to Solihull!

"Is that what you want - 'cause that's what'll 'appen" (Harry Enfield circa 1990!

[kingsheathlad]

I think we may need two wins or a win and two bonus points from somewhere to be safe.Not sure where a win will come from but we may spring a surprise from somewhere. we have not scored four tries in a league game this season and are the lowest points scorers, so it's going to be tough but we have had the experience of being in this position ,albeit in a play off system with more experienced players, but we have a young team who do not drop their heads and that may ultimately pull us through.
Come on Mose........

[gav1978]

I feel similarly Rick - I'd be interested if the critics of kicking out of hand are against the idea of kicking for territory per se or whether they are simply frustrated by what seems to me to often be the superiority of the opposition in implementing this tactic.

I don't see that we can run everything and there aren't teams at any level who do. For all their inventive back play yesterday, Doncaster were quite happy to put the ball up in the air, pressure the catcher and play for territory when necessary as well. From what I saw yesterday (and against Jersey) the opposition kickers were simply better at utilising the Garryowen and getting better distance on their kicks when pushing us back into our territory. We seem to often be the ones inviting pressure on ourselves by committing the error when returning the ball - and earlier in the season our inability to operate a fully functioning lineout didn't help us pressure the opposition when we did find touch. Thankfully we seem to have made considerable progress on this recently.

And while I would imagine that the Doncaster supporters will be disappointed that their backs did not obtain any reward for the flair and vision they displayed at times during the match, I would guess that they will also be lamenting their pack's inability to compete with our forwards. Towards the lower half of the Championship, limited budgets seem to show that you can't have everything - you need to gain the upper hand where you can.

At this stage of the season, the results matter. We had the upper hand on Plymouth Albion at the start of the season and lost and while that was a great match for the neutral, I'd rather have come away with the 4 points. Lets get behind the lads for what will undoubtedly be a nailbiting run-in. Come on Mose!!!!

[markd]

Yes, I agree with the two wins scenario.

I fully expect Donny to beat Rotherham next Saturday and Plymouth on the final day - say 9 points plus 2 bonus elsewhere makes 11 giving Donny 29.

I expect Jersey to beat Plymouth away and either Bristol or Nottingham at home - again say 9 points plus 2 bonus elsewhere makes 11 giving Jersey 31.

That leaves the big Jersey v Donny game on April 13. A bonus point draw would give Mose a target of 33 to beat (to be absoloutely sure which is two wins from now on.

Mose have chances in three home games and one away game in my view, but, on paper at least, the others have an easier run in.

If Mose can wrap this up quickly - and that's a big if - it will allow extra planning time for next season.

Come on Mose!

[grooveavenue]

Interesting however that with a great win under our belts, the referee avoided the usual abuse. I just felt that his decision making and the urgency of his shrill whistle, without allowing any kind of continuity in the game, didn't give either team any confidence to try anything with flair or inventiveness. The ref seemed to give very little opportunity for the game to flow. I thought I detected players confusion with some of his interruptions resulting in slowing down of the game.

I also thought that Buster (?) was lucky not to be sent off for his mid air tackle on an airborne Tyson Lewis near the stand. So, the referee had a mind to punish technical issues but failed to protect the players in his endeavour to pacify and be a "players" ref!!

Was I right to assume that the Knights captain left the field before warm down and was he on his way to challenge the ref on some issues?

Is this the time and place to mention feed into the scrum? Somebody from Donny commented that he knows a top official and the instructions are to disregard feed and ensure binding and straight sets rather than feed are priority!

In one period of 11mins in the second half I timed scrum and line out preparation of 3 minutes!

I do know that at the Q and A K Maggs said coaches found it difficult to approach referees on their "game plan"!

Whinge Whinge Whinge!!!.

Very Happy with the win and I agree we have the toughest run in. Great Support on Saturday ,the players were really appreciative so we just need to bring it on again for the Bristol match etc in our mini season run in......................................

[robheap]

I Agree with most of the points made, The Ref was the same as last time we had him,
pinging people for holding on almost as soon as they hit the floor, at least he was consistent
and did it to both teams. But his decision making was poor and his signalling as to why he pinged people was
none existent, which infuriates me. Doesn't he realise we're paying good money to watch the game and he must explain his decisions, it helps everyone understand what he's doing.
as for the block on Simon Hunt, that was a total joke, dunno what the touch judge was doing talking to the Donny no 11 5 mins later, either it's a penalty or it isn't surely, and as it was right in front of where we stand it was a blatant penalty and some might say cynical enough to be a yellow card.

Simon Hunt can only be effective if we spin it out to him, but if the game plan is to kick then he's never going to be effective. It would have been nice to run on Donny, I felt we might have scored more tries if we had off done, as their defence did look suspect.

at the end of the day we enjoyed the game, we won and denied them a losing bonus point, it would have been perfect to score 4 tries and get a bonus point, but I'm not complaining.

Bring on Bristol, as I suspect we won't get much out of the Pirates match next week, although I wish the team well of course.

Worryingly, John Caves felt that Adams injury could be season ending, does anyone have any news on this please? Hope not as he and Sam wilkes have improved their line out work immensely, not to mention the scrummaging and ball carrying.
all in all apart from the injury to Cavesy a good day.

[robheap]

BTW I thought Ben Pons was awesome today, some of his tackling is amazing.

[CJB1]

Mar 3, 2013 17:06:43 GMT robheap said:

Worryingly, John Caves felt that Adams injury could be season ending, does anyone have any news on this please? Hope not as he and Sam wilkes have improved their line out work immensely, not to mention the scrummaging and ball carrying.
all in all apart from the injury to Cavesy a good day.

We don't seem to have much cover at hooker. Craig Lea is listed on the squad page, but I don't think he's seen any game time this season, unless he's been out on loan elsewhere. Can any of the regular props cover hooker if needed?

[Gerald the Fish]

At this time of the season we've usually got a bit of cash about to get some new players in. Hopefully we can either get a replacement from Saints or buy a new guy in. Dave Hilton might consider getting his boots on again and Craig Voisey wants to return as soon a possible. I never played in a scrum (and I'll probably get shot down here) but do we really need someone that can hook. The ball goes in so crooked these days that hooking in it's true sense has gone out the window. So a bloody heavy lump in the middle might be enough to get us through whether he can hook or not.

[kingsheathlad]

What about line outs. Throwing in needs some practice

[Steve@Mose]

Match reports:

Birmingham Post
Birmingham Mail

[Richie B]

Are the posters moaning about the style of play the same ones that were criticising the side earlier in the season for throwing the ball about willy nilly and losing? That was a tense and enjoyable battle between two very committed sides. Relegation is a nightmare scenario for both clubs and hence in a pressurised environment you aren't going to see caution to the wind rugby. Clearly the coaching staff have made the decision to adopt a pragmatic but winning approach and the results are improving. The defensive effort was magnificent Saturday and the team should be applauded for it. We could be below Donny with only a point seperating us from bottom placed Jersey! Bit more positivity among the faithful wouldn't go amiss!

[gary]

Thanks as usual steve@mose for posting these links to Brian's reports. You will have to show me how to do it sometime!

In response to Rednblack I'm going to be wholly positive.

The defence was brilliant - that tackle by Pons in the second half in particular may have made all the difference to the outcome.
The scrum was terrific. Front row superb.
Line out functioned well throughout.
Tremendous impact from substitutes who all made a big contribution when they came on.
Kicking not always pretty to watch but the end justifies the means.
Carter and King superb in the centre in both defence and attack.
Ollie Thomas did nothing stupid at full back.
Glyn Hughes kicked well.

There you are.

[willbassett]

As a tactical approach quick/chase is very effective - but only if we either kick into space or follow up the kick and put pressure on the opposition. Too often on Saturday, we kicked straight to the opposition without chasing hard enough. Given the amount of time Doncaster spent in our half, it didn't seem to work to me and when we used the forwards to punch holes we were much more successful.

[grooveavenue]

RednBlack, we deserve all your anguish. Yes a tense atmosphere was bound to play a part. Yes I really enjoyed the game. No, I am not a usual critical poster but got to admit reading back may appear so! I think I was sitting back in the glory of victory and felt confident to raise my minor points. That didn't work then. Looking forward to 3 wins to the end of the season! Is that better?!!!!!!

FROM: CHASTENED

Come on Mozzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...............

[Steve@Mose]

Moseley RFC 23 Doncaster Knights 9: Brian Dick's big match verdict

"For once Moseley were more physical, committed and confrontational than their opponents. And that’s why they won."

[dingle]

Photo's (39)for this game is now on my website. Please leave comments on the contact page.

[dingle]

Photo's (39)for this game is now on my website. Please leave comments on the contact page.
Sorry the link is: dingleimages.co.uk/?p=485