Moseley 25 - 17 Plymouth

[stevep]

Well it wasn't always pretty, and being Moseley there had to be some nerve jangling moments on the way, but well done Mose for starting the play-offs with a hard-fought win. Coming back from 17-6 down like you did showed immense character. Immense performances across the park., and that last-kick penalty to ensure Plymouth didn't even get a losing bonus may have been hard for them to stomach, but could be oh so valuable!

A fantastic result!

[Westcountry Mose]

Well done lads. Keep it going.

[CJB1]

If only we could play for 80 mins like we did for the last 30. Well done lads, but please don't leave it that late every time.

Exemplary placekicking by Ollie. Can anyone confirm who touched down for us? I couldn't hear any announcement, but I thought I saw Adam Caves being congratulated.

[Shy Spa]

Agree with stevep - bonus points will be critical in this most closely matched Pool C. Tonight was about not losing (for both teams), which determined the character of the game. A good start, but still some way to go.

[grooveavenue]

Whew!................Failed late fitness test with flu stuff. Billesley just a step too far today! Sat at home on twitter. Worse than being at the match. For some reason it went off for a few minutes at about 89mins..............but eventually told the truth. Win - no bonus for them. Was it Voisey off with arm. Is it bad?...................cant stand many more of these playoffs..........Well done Cavesy! Well done Ollie. Cant recall did Harpey come on?.............................

[Steve@Mose]

Mar 9, 2012 22:08:10 GMT stevep said:

Well it wasn't always pretty, and being Moseley there had to be some nerve jangling moments on the way, but well done Mose for starting the play-offs with a hard-fought win. Coming back from 17-6 down like you did showed immense character. Immense performances across the park., and that last-kick penalty to ensure Plymouth didn't even get a losing bonus may have been hard for them to stomach, but could be oh so valuable!

A fantastic result!

Maybe the most important kick of the season given we're playing for our survival (once again). And considering the matches we lost in the regular season to last minute kicks it made Ollie's strike all the more sweeter.

Hopefully Voisey's injury isn't as bad as the initial diagnosis. And nothing comes of the handbags after the final whistle. Many tough battles ahead and we cannot afford to lose players for them.

[Steve@Mose]

Mar 9, 2012 22:17:45 GMT CJB1 said:

If only we could play for 80 mins like we did for the last 30. Well done lads, but please don't leave it that late every time.

Exemplary placekicking by Ollie. Can anyone confirm who touched down for us? I couldn't hear any announcement, but I thought I saw Adam Caves being congratulated.

Definitely Adam Caves. Superb judgement to reach and place the ball on the line rather than go through another phase.

[Mr Steve]

Mar 9, 2012 22:34:31 GMT grooveavenue said:

Whew!................Failed late fitness test with flu stuff. Billesley just a step too far today! Sat at home on twitter. Worse than being at the match. For some reason it went off for a few minutes at about 89mins..............but eventually told the truth. Win - no bonus for them. Was it Voisey off with arm. Is it bad?...................cant stand many more of these playoffs..........Well done Cavesy! Well done Ollie. Cant recall did Harpey come on?.............................

Voisey has a suspected broken arm - although that was announced not long after he went off. Lets hope its not that bad and he makes a speedy recovery.

[martinwatson aka Camera Shake]

Does anyone want to see the try again....?

[kingsheathlad]

Go on then lets be having you

[watcher]

I thought we were just too tense and cautious for the first 50 minutes and played at "level one" whereas we have been playing at "level three" in recent weeks. Plymouth worked hard , especially in the forwards but our defence was good. However when we came out of our shell midway through the second half we looked much the better side even if Plymouth battled hard to the end. Agree about Ollies last kick, it prevented Albion from going away with a point which cold be crucial in the end. If we can now shed our inhibitions and tenseness for the Scottish game and play at the higher tempo then we should get a decent result against Scottish and beat our bogey side next Sunday. I say this because I have a sneaking feeling that Esher will beat Scottishg today which would make for a nervous and probably tense home side when we visit Richmond Park in the next game.

[welshexile1963]

Well done boys, at half time I thought "here we go again"!!! But a spirited comeback was called for and you delivered!! Keep it up boys!

[observer]

"Plymouth Albion let vital lead slip in opening defeat in play-offs"

PLYMOUTH Albion blew a golden chance to claim a vital win in their opening Championship relegation play-off match at Moseley last night.

Nat Saumi's team, keen to prove a point after their 41-17 hammering at Esher in their final regular league match, played really well for 50 minutes at Billesley Common last night and were leading 17-6....
...............full story at:

www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Plymouth-Albion-let-vital-lead-slip-opening/story-15480681-detail/story.html

[observer]

RFU Championship Play-offs: Moseley 25 Plymouth 17

MOSELEY hero Adam Caves paid tribute to his team’s mental fortitude after they came from behind to start their play-off campaign with a win.

Caves’ second-half try and 20 points from the exceptional boot of Ollie Thomas ensured Mose recovered from a flaccid first-half performance to record a vital victory.

And just to make the evening even more perfect the Billesley outfit denied Plymouth a loss bonus as Thomas landed his seventh successful kick on the final play of the game.

.........full story at:
Read More www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-sport/birmingham-rfc-rugby/2012/03/10/rfu-championship-play-offs-moseley-25-plymouth-17-97319-30501692/#ixzz1ohZBvT3f

[Oddsox]

Agree with Watcher above. Team very nervous first half, kicked away too much possession. Mind you, it wasn't just the team, I was feeling sick & the crowd were very quiet to begin with. The defence good thoughout & backrow Mason, Chevvy & Ellery excellent. I think someone has had a word with Waggy, need all players on the pitch - he might have got himself binned earlier this season. Ollie magnificent boot.
Presume front row prop issues now with both Warren & Voisey out.
Well done Moseley, great win.

[gary]

Despite the great comeback and win if we play like we did in the first 50/60 minutes we will be relegated.

We were awful in the first spell and seemed to have reverted to the old Ian Smith style one out pick and drive rugby which this season has only 'gained' us about -5 yards every time we use it. We seemed devoid of ideas and we need to be able to implement plans B and C if the starting plan is not working.

A better team than Plymouth (which London Scottish certainly are if not the rejuvenated Esher) would have been out of site after 50 minutes.

Where was the more expansive rugby we had been promised? Although we are now much better in the set pieces we just don't have the ability/players to really dominate a tight forward struggle.

A word of praise though for the forwards. David Lyons was quite outstanding last night both in the set pieces and in the loose and he and Paul Spivey suddenly look like a useful second row partnership. Gadd and Quigley more than held their own and the former (who looked hopeless(ly unfit) earlier in the season is suddenly looking like a new player and a cornerstone of the pack. Incidentally can we get the ball out of the scrum quicker please?

Credit to all the forwards.

A word about the backs. I thought Ollie Thomas had his best game yet at fullback. Apart from one dodgy attempted break just on our 22 in the first half I thought everything he did was spot on and his kicking was quite outstanding especially the conversion of the Adam Caves try. Ollie has been the subject of criticism (by me at least) following his stinker against London Scottish but last night he was outstanding. Anthony Carter did all that was asked of him on the wing and I like our ability to switch Anthony and Ollie as the play dictates. By the way I still think that Billy Robinson has looked our biggest threat all season.

Whilst doing nothing wrong 2 of our standout players throughout the season, Greg King and Michael Ellery had relatively quiet games and I'm hoping their attacking skills will come to the fore in future games.

I may be wrong but if Craig Voisey is out for the rest of the playoffs (he has been terrific all season) does that just leave us with just one prop (Anton O'Donnell)? That won't be enough for the playoffs will it?

When all is said and done this was a terrific comeback win however I don't want to leave our chances of staying up till the last game of the season at Plymouth so we need to extract as many points as possible from our next 4 matches.

As others have said the amount of poor play (50 minutes) and good play (30 minutes) needs to be reversed quickly. I'm sure we can do it.

[studleyken]

Another nail biter, why do they do it to us and this time the poor start wasn't just for the 1st half but for 10 mins into the 2nd half as well. But they came good in the end and how the ground rang to the support of the fans. Phill Hall was back and it was good to hear him.
I agree Adam and Ollie were at their best but when it was needed nobody let the side down.
I think the change came when we started to get quicker ball from the rucks. Sam seemed to be taking an age to get it out during the 1st part of the game which just gave them time to set their defence. They even turned it over a couple of times due to the slowness.
With Voicey injured we now only have 4 front row players. Lets hope they can survive for the next 5 games, although I hope we have it wrapped up before the last game. Judging by the spat that broke out at the end of the game the return game at plymouth could be a fiery affair, especially if either team need to win it to stay up.
How good did it feel when the final whistle went.
Esher loosing to LS was the best result for us I think, it may knock Harlequins B teams, I'm sorry I mean Eshers, confidence as they probably thought they were invincible after their results towards the end of the league season. LS are going to be tough whatever their mood but I'm sure we have the team to beat them. Lets get behind the lads. The last I heard there were still places on the coach leaving at 10-30. Get in touch with Neil at the MSA to get a seat.
Come on you Mooooose

[countrybumpkin]

I completely agree with your assessment, Gary. It was a magnificent start to our play-off campaign in terms of the result, but we will have to play with a lot more precision, positivity and ambition against London Scottish in order to get a result on Sunday!

After what Kevin Maggs said in the Mail about being true to our attacking principles, I was surprised by some of the selections in the backs: Ryan de la Hape and Billy Robinson on the bench (I agree with you Gary that he's been our major strike weapon out wide all season, but in view of the fact that he is the only winger we've got with genuine pace, I can only assume he must have been carrying an injury), and no room in the squad for the seemingly rejuvenated Jack Adams.

Anyway, let's hope that they're all fit and firing for next week (best wishes for a speedy recovery to Craig Voisey, who has been magnificent all season!) and that we mean what we say about playing the game with ambition and purpose. We've lost twice already this season to Scottish by being overly cautious and conservative, by failing to release an evidently superior back division. Let's unleash the whirlwind next weekend, Maggsy!

Come on you Mose!

[CJB1]

Brian Dick in the Birmingham Post:

"The problem is when the wind doesn't blow down the Billesley Common pitch, it takes a while for the tactical mist to clear.

"Indeed it took the worst part of 50 flaccid minutes on a breezeless spring evening for Moseley to see a clear way past Plymouth.

"Once they did though, it was strangely simple. Work hard to win the ball, even harder to keep it and wait for opponents short on confidence to implode. And so it came to pass..."

Read More www.birminghampost.net/midlands-birmingham-sport/west-midlands-sports/rfu-news/2012/03/10/rfu-championship-moseley-25-plymouth-albion-17-65233-30501921/#ixzz1ouQPS6Pz

[Westcountry Mose]

After beating Esher, Simon Amor (LS coach) is quoted as saying "Esher are much too good to go down as, I feel are we." That implies he thinks either us or Albion should be for the drop. If I were Maggsy I'd pin this quote up on the changing room wall and ask the players to prove a point. Harlequins once thought they were too good to go down.

[studleyken]

Total agreement Westcountry Mose. I'm sure Maggsy agrees as well.
Come on you Mooooose.

[dingle]

Hi Guys,
Few photo's loaded on the club website from our win against Plymouth last Friday.
Goodluck to the boys for Sunday's game at London Scottish.

www.moseleyrugby.co.uk/displaypix12.php?repfixid=941

[studleyken]

Thanks Dingle. Great Photos.
Come on you Mooose.