Hope we are ready, as I’ve just heard Students are digging deep into their Tigers association, 7 trained with them today apparently, according to my cousins son, who is studying sports science there.
Post by Communications Team on Mar 1, 2019 12:37:28 GMT
Big Match Preview by Glyn Barlow
Birmingham Moseley v Loughborough Students
Saturday 2nd March 3.00pm @ Billesley Common
Last weekend we started off the match preview saying “Unbelievably we start another match preview this season reflecting on what might have been” well……..here we go again.
What might have been if the team had not gone absent without leave in the first half during a period when they let Rosslyn Park score at will? What might have been if the team had been able to maintain the remarkable second half come back from being 3-38 down to 27-38 with five minutes to go? If “what might have been” won games we would be top of the table.
This weekend it is essential that that nobody is asking what might have been as Birmingham Moseley take on last place Loughborough Students in a vital game for both teams.
Just four points behind the home team Loughborough will be targeting this game as an opportunity to step off the bottom of the table. Recent weeks have proved tough for the Leicestershire outfit with heavy losses to Rosslyn Park 20-46, Darlington Mowden Park 47-30, Old Elthamians 26-69 and Bishops Stortford 26-41. The team will be looking back to their 23-29 away win over Rotherham Titans and home victory over Caldy 53-18, both in January, as inspiration for this weekend’s encounter.
The Caldy game underlined a trait of this season for Loughborough, they haven’t found it difficult to score tries. Remarkably so far they have picked up fourteen try bonus points, the second highest in the league.
Leading the way across the line has been scrum half Jack Moates with ten closely followed by full back Tim Bitirim (eight), second row Thibaud Flament (seven) and wing Will Brown (six). Birmingham Moseley will need a significant step up in defence if they are going to keep these guys quiet.
With such try scoring talent you would be excused for wondering why the team are currently in sixteenth place. Well on the debit side the team has conceded 868 points, by far the most in the league, two hundred more than Birmingham Moseley.
So the recipe for success for Birmingham Moseley is quite simple, tighten up the defence and put in an attacking performance to match the second half against Rosslyn Park and there should be no more “what might have been” agonising reflection at 5pm. If only it was that straightforward.
If we needed to put any more significance to this week’s fixture then cast an eye on the challenges those teams around us face. Fifteenth place Esher face an away trip to seventh place Darlington Mowden Park, Caldy travel to ninth place Cinderford while Sale FC have a tough home fixture at home to third place Blackheath.
With Birmingham Moseley’s nearest rivals having big challenges this week a win over Loughborough could have great significance on the run in to the end of the season.
A welcome 5pt win but could have been different if that penalty was slotted at the end. Where was the game management? Played well first half but second, I was expecting a territory game with kicks down the slope with the wind. Only one such kick which I feel put us under pressure. Surely the management team should have got the message on to play in the right areas. Anyway, a good win.
Post by Westcountry Mose on Mar 2, 2019 19:11:53 GMT
"management team" that must be an oxymoron for us this season. Welcome 5 points but how did we manage to concede those last two tries? We should have closed the game out kicking down the hill.
Yep.. we became frightened of winning...what do we do ?...protect that 30 17 lead.....when struggling thats not a bad choice but we needed one more try always...what a mad last minute..their first tap pen called back as ref had called time out for injury. Kick to posts short....still in play. Thank goodness we were alive to that..stole the ball to kick to touch for end game.... lets get confidence for next 2 matches. Didn't like the look of ...was it 3 BMRC ....players injuries...even our Fitness and Kicking Coach is injured...and he didn't kick a ball in earnest on rhe field.I'm home for medication as we speak.....
P.S......lets admit the first bit of luck we have had all season...lets work on that, make our own luck and tuck those 5 pointers under our belts and run for the hills....
looking at the table this morning I reckon Cambridge and Caldy will be in the relegation mix. Does anyone know if teams are level on points in the table how is it determined who is higher.Is it points difference or wins. Our points difference is better than those around us however our number of wins not as good. Tough game this Saturday,lets hope our injuries yesterday are not as bad as some looked and we can put out our strongest available side. Come on Mose.......
If we do end up going down, it looks like injuries will play a big part in that. I think Buster and James Williams would have made a significant difference yesterday. Do we know when they're likely to return? Let's hope the injuries to Ollie Allsopp and Lewis Bean are not too bad - though Ollie didn't look good in the shelter after the game. Yesterday showed yet again that we have good attacking potential - in the forwards and the backs - though our knock-ons were a source of continual frustration. Defence and game management are key - and keeping morale high. Come on Mose - you've escaped relegation before and can do it again! I'm sure we can beat Chinnor next week, if we play to our best. If anyone's interested, Chinnor's games are all on video on their website - they look beatable...
I thought the players gave everything yesterday. Okay game management was questionable but it was full commitment. You only needed to see the lads when they came off the pitch. They had nothing left. Injuries to Ollie and Josh don’t look good as both were on crutches. Lewis was moving okay but not sure about his injury. The programme suggested a number of players were close to returning. Any news on the link with Worcester as we could do with some of the dual registered players?
P.S......lets admit the first bit of luck we have had all season...lets work on that, make our own luck and tuck those 5 pointers under our belts and run for the hills....
I thought it was called back because the kicking tee was brought on which means you have to kick for points. The kicker didn't want to as he knew what would happen having had his kick off blown back earlier. Luck yes but the same luck denied us 3 conversions earlier.
Post by Westcountry Mose on Mar 3, 2019 12:47:42 GMT
Couldn't fault the commitment of the lads yesterday. Great effort from the start and I thought Glendenhuys looked a very useful addition to the squad. Pity Sam P didn't appear at the start of the second half. I thought he was a real live wire up at Sale.
Sam P should be starting at scrum half instead of the ponderous Sam B, he would add some much needed energy and speed of recycling at the breakdown in my opinion
In general an entertaining match, and one where for most of both halves we were very much in control. All their points came from our lapses, but even then, 30-17 would have been a fair score to finish on and reflective of both teams' efforts.
The last 5 minutes was abysmal, both in terms of game management and the fact that suddenly we were sitting there with only a point's advantage, having let in 2 very soft tries. I went to the loo after their fourth try, expecting to come back and be a point behind, so to learn that they'd missed the conversion was quite good! From where I was standing the try line clearance at the final whistle looked like Loughborough had dropped a goal, so again it was with surprise and relief that I saw the scoreboard unchanged.
Heart attack inducing last five aside, there were definite positives to take away from the match, and as others have noted the commitment from the guys on the field was absolute. Not much left to give (if anything) at the final whistle. Hope the injuries aren't too bad, but neither looked great at the time. Lewis Bean looked like he'd turned his ankle so maybe it's not too serious. Hope not anyway. With others it would be good to welcome back some of the injured sooner rather than later.
If we can grind out results over the next couple of weeks then we might just do it.
Five points gained with tremendous effort from all - although quite a bit of it was to make amends for our own errors.
The same again from the Esher game should keep the season alive, but if it all comes down to the final match against Caldy and it's one like this I'm not sure the nerves will be able to take it.
