As I said. Dave Hilton effect again last 20 mins..............6 mins over time............Replacements working as tactic now rather than need to.............Ollie kicked it all........20-0 down after 20 mins make it all the sweeter..............................................
Post by malcolm1brumwell on Oct 20, 2012 19:35:39 GMT
Knocked from kick off,2early penalties 0-6 then Thomas sin binned result 2tries against and 20points down in 20 mins.What turned it around to 20-17Half time the forwards got into the game & Scottish were not too hot going backwards.A quick try soon after the restart and we were ahead.This was a very good cup tie & Thomas was outstanding.Scrum came under pressure when Caves & Mason went off,Hilton steadied the boat.Pity they scored with a length of field try which give them a further bonus point.Chevvy played well against us.
This squad just don't know when to give in. "What's 20 to 0 down? Lets stick to the plan and we can beat this lot". And they did. Simple as that. It was also another battling performance. Still need to get the lineout right. But what a great day. Lets hope next week at Donny is as good. The Mose fans were as good as the team. Great work lads and lassies. Makes you proud to support Moseley. Come on you Mooooose.
Post by Gerald the Fish on Oct 20, 2012 22:02:02 GMT
Great result, What did us early on was the Ollie Thomas sin binning. They scored two quick tries out of almost nothing. To be fair we were a bit slow out of the blocks again today which LS weren't. They seemed more fired up from the word go. That said once we were back to full strength we were really the better team. We found some fire from somewhere, and just out played them simple as that. Our tries were better quality and better worked, the forwards worked really hard and forced errors from the LS front row. Colin Quigley stood up about four times during the scrums and for some reason didn't get pinged once, I could not get me hat on with the way he was getting away with it. Anyway Buster Lawrence played fantastically (again) as did sooo many others. Ollie Thomas was huge particularly as he was playing outside of his natural position. He had some fantastic link up play with Simon Hunt which led to a great try, but the ref judged the final pass to be forward so disallowed the bugger. I thought we were really well disciplined at the start of the second half. LS had a player binned right at the end of the first half so we had an eight minute window at the start of the second to do some damage. Which we started to do scoring a good try, however we then went and conceded one but importantly didn't panic and stuck to the game plan. So many times last season there were games within our grasp like this but then we've collapsed at the end. Not today, so much character to come back at all from 20 points down so early on. But to then go on and win was so so sweet you had to be there to taste it. I spoke to Paul Spivey at the end of the game and he said he thought maybe LS thought they'd got us at 20 nil and they perhaps backed off the gas a bit. I'm not sure they did I think they were genuinely surprised by the new pace and tenacity of the Moseley boys. Bearing in mind this wasn't strictly a first choice Mose team. No Charlie Hayter, No Greg King, etc. This win, albeit a B&I cup win, will have sent a message through the rest of the championship. Moseley will never give up and I don't care how many points you may have on us in your own back yard, we're here to win and there's a damn good chance we can pull it off. COME ON MOSE
No one can say they didn't get their money's worth from this pulsating game!
The most pertinent comment above which just about sums up our performance is "this squad just don't know when to give in"! When you consider that we have now won four out of the last five games and the one defeat was against Newcastle with a Premieship side, this team certainly has self belief and confidence now.
The early 20 - 0 deficit was effectively down to the referee who had poor game especially in the first quarter pinging us about five times on the trot and being inconsistent. No team can build any momentum when that happens and the players sometimes then hesitate to do something natural for fear of getting penalised. The ref was only looking one way and that was against us and he did not penalise LS for various offences particularly offsides and over the top in rucks and mauls. It is very difficult to get into the game when that happens when the refereee effectively gives the opposition momentum. (the two tries were scored when Ollie was off). In fact my little group correctly predicted that he would yellow card one of our players just before he did so!. However the ref seemed to be trying to make some amends after the first 20 minues but was still inconsistent. For example a deliberate infringement by LS defending illegallly on the home team's try line only brought a penalty when the same offence at the other end resulted in Ollie being sin binned. However even the ref could not hold us back and when we got some quick ball our backs looked lethal.
Our lineout however was poor and Buster Lawrence may have been found out by a more natural 2nd row but his all round play was again outstanding. (Is Adam Caves's co-ordination with his jumpers not as good as Wilkes? The latter staretd last week and the line was much better).
When you consider this was a make shift side and that Pineaar went off injured in the first after about 20 minutes meaning we had even less bulk in the pack, the forwards performance was outstanding against a much bigger eight.
Scrummaging was OK up to mid way through the 2nd half but the change in our fortunes in that area when LS got the upper hand there was not actually when Caves and and Mason went off but when Mark Irish (reputedly the best prop in the Championship), came on! The introduction of Dave Hilton and Locksley later on did respectively steady the ship and add bulk but Irish's and another big experienced LS forward's entrance onto the pitch considerably beefed up the home team's pack which started to control the forward play. Locksley's entrance for the last ten minutes meant that we had some presence in the line out then and it was good to see him have a successful run out after his injury.
Some of the backs' interplay was breathtaking and just shows what we can do with decent ball. We could easily have scored another few tries!
We had with a very makeshift side (and to be fair LS played a number of squad players as well) but they were all fully committed. We had a winger and a full back playing in the centres, a flyhalf/full back playing wing and a wing playing full back! We ended up with two relatively light open side flankers in the back row, (one of whom played t no 8!) and a flanker in the 2nd row meaning after Mason and Pinear departed that we had no real bulk apart possibly from Mather, in the back five, our performance was even more outstanding.
The only disappointing thing for me was giving LS the try right at the end when we were leading by nine points and camped on the LS line. After nearly scoring ourselves which would have taken us 16 points ahead all we needed to do was retain possession from our attacking scrum only five metres out (we should actually have moved Ollie into the fly half position for him to drop a goal. We should then have retained possession from the kick off). Instead when a seemingly offside infringement was missed, tLS gained position and its winger ran the length of the pitch to score. After our performance to get to nine points (at least!) ahead that lapse to make the scorline appear respectable was dissappointing and the only blemish on a fine match.
Also when you consider that we have our two best centres, our first choice fly half, 2nd row to start, props to come back from Northampton, all due to return this victory tasted even sweeter.
Great fight back by all the players and great spirit showed by all! I was a bit disappointed with LS last try to give them another bonus point, but we got 5 points and I'll take that. Set piece wasn't as good as last week I think Buster got found out a little bit and all our timings seemed off. I thought Thorpe, Voise and Mather worked tirelessly to give us good ball by doing all the dog work not many people see and robinson tackled everything that moved. Pons looked a bit rusty. Carter, Hunt and Hunt were the standout backs for me, Simon Hunt looked really dangerous Everytime he got the ball. We took a few injuries but I spoke to Pienarr briefly and he said he would be fine for next week. Voise and Mather both seemed to have ice bags on their heads after big collisions and Mason had a big ice pack on his leg from what I could see but hopefully it's just precaution. Bring on Doncaster! Commmeeee on Mose!
Couldn't get to the game yesterday due to work commitments but the comments above sound very encouraging. Well done lads. Wins breed encouragement and confidence so the more wins we get - never mind the margin - then alls the better. I hope to be at the Doncaster game which if memory serves me is on Friday night with a 7.45 kick off? Come on Moooooooooooooooooooose
Post by countrybumpkin on Oct 22, 2012 16:38:37 GMT
I agree with many of Watcher's observations about the game. It was certainly a spectacular win and very much against the odds after such a conspicuously lacklustre start... impending cricket scores sprung to mind after the first 15 minutes! However, I'm not equally convinced about the 'makeshift' nature of the back division on Saturday. Maggsy said he was willing to try out new combinations in this Cup competition and so he did, and for the second week running with some considerable success I might add. Obviously some of the changes were the result of injury to the likes of Hayter & King, but some were the result of strategic tinkering. I thought that Anthony Carter's move to inside centre was an intelligent one (he makes so few mistakes that 12 is likely to be his best position in future as he starts to suffer that slight loss of pace that comes to us all with age) and Billy Robinson's move to full-back added extra pace and cutting edge in attack, as well as calm assurance in defence (this is not in fact a new position for him: he was the Rugby Paper's National 1 'Dream Team' 15 in 2010-11, when playing for Cambridge RFC). As for the mercurial talent of Ollie Thomas, such is his all-round flair for the game that he could just about get away with playing anywhere. However, in truth he lacks the genuine pace for a winger or the defensive strength for full-back. His best position is most certainly at fly-half and with his confidence currently sky-high, I suggest that now is the time to play him there, where Sam Brown's swift service will afford him time and space to express his creative instincts. While Maggsy will have plenty of welcome headaches relating to the selection of his best possible back line to beat a resurgent Doncaster on Friday night, the second-row and line-out remain serious cause for concern. Indeed, while Buster Lawrence has been a revelation at lock-forward (as has the burgeoning second-row thoroughbred, Addison Lockley), his move up from the back-row exposes just how short we are in the engine-room as a squad, a predicament made significantly worse by the long term injury of Mike Powell. On a more positive note, the front and back-rows are looking very strong indeed! Come on you Moooooooooose!
Another fabulous win against the odds considering the amount of injuries to key players. Know it is "only" the B&I Cup and not priority but winning no matter where is a good habit. Number of players filling in out of position and doing very well but when Glyn Hughes, Charlie Hayter, and Greg King are all back and fit I'd expect they wil be straight back in the team. Although we scored 5 at the weekend we also conceded 5 which won't be good enough in the League. Great position for Kevin to be in though but I'd also like to see one or two DOR's from Saints to reenforce the pack.
