Attendance: 670                          Referee:    Neil Chivers                               

Teams

 

The game as it happened

 

	03	0-3	Pen Stephen Boatman
Rep Tom Fidler for James Burgoyne	15	0-3
	19	0-6	Pen Stephen Boatman
Pen James Williams	22	3-6
Try Ed Sheldon	24	8-6
Con James Williams	25	10-6
Rep James Burgoyne for Tom Fidler	26	10-6
Rep Mark Harrison for Ed Sheldon	48	10-6
Rep Tom Fidler for James Burgoyne	48	10-6
Penalty Try	55	15-6
	55	15-6	YC Stephen Boatman
Con James Williams	56	17-6
	56	17-6	Rep Callum O’Connell for Neil Sweeney
	56	17-6	Rep Matthew Lowes for Cameron Leigh
Try Greg Charlton	59	22-6
Con James Williams	60	24-6
	60	24-6	Rep Thomas Whitehurst for Hugo Seccombe
	60	24-6	Rep Calum Waters for Andrew Garner
Rep Will Crane for Jake Farnworth	63	24-6
Rep Afeafe Haisila-Lokotui for Drew Cheshire	63	24-6
Rep Tom Wilson for Jack Preece	63	24-6
Rep James Burgoyne for James Elliot	77	24-6

 

Match Report

Moseley get back on the horse with three-try defeat of Esher

By David Lawrence – Birmingham Mail

A quickfire brace of tries early in the second half steered Birmingham Moseley to victory over a battling Esher outfit.

But in an error-strewn game played in torrential rain, they failed to secure the four-try bonus – much to the annoyance of director of rugby Kevin Maggs.

“We’re disappointed not to get the bonus point but they were difficult conditions,” Maggs said.

“After a slowish start, we managed to play some good stuff considering the weather and it means we continue to win at home. But we wanted to win with a bonus point to try to stay in front of Plymouth and try to keep a little bit of pressure on Hartpury.

“We had watched Esher a few times and we knew they predominantly like to play rugby. We knew they were going to play and they never give up. They have some very good young players so we needed to make sure we didn’t give them an opportunity to come back into the game.”

Moseley suffered a mauling at the hands of runaway league leaders Hartpury last week and that still seemed to be playing on their minds as they made a slow start.

They almost gifted Esher a fourth- minute try when a loose pass from Jack Preece was gathered by flying full-back Gabriel Ibitoye who ran 50 metres before being tackled by Moseley’s even quicker winger Ed Sheldon.

But it was only a matter of time before the visitors chalked up the first points, Stephen Boatman slotting over a sixth-minute penalty awarded for a high tackle.

The fly-half put another kick just wide before doubling his and Esher’s tally on 19 minutes with another straightforward kick.

But as the half wore on, the Red and Blacks came more into the game, particularly after James Williams had posted their first points with a 22nd minute penalty.

Two minutes later, the Birmingham outfit were ahead. The ball was moved out to the left and Sheldon turned on the gas to sprint 40 metres to the line, dotting down beneath the posts to give Williams the simplest of conversions.

Opportunities to add to the scoreline were limited for the rest of the half – a penalty apiece going astray as Moseley maintained their slender four-point lead going into the interval.The home side started the second half the stronger with powerhouse Jacques Le Roux bludgeoning his way through the line on a number of occasions as Esher struggled to deal with the strength of the back row man.

The forwards were beginning to turn the screw and they had their just rewards on 55 minutes when a driving maul from a lineout was pulled to the floor by the visitors just short of the line. Referee Neil Chivers awarded a penalty try, Williams kicked the extras and Boatman was sent to the bin for his role in the grounding.

Buoyed by the try, and with their extra man, Moseley soon chalked up a third try from another driving maul that saw second row Greg Charlton crash over the line. Williams was again on target with the conversion.

Esher had managed to claw their way back against Loughborough Students the previous week but they looked a spent force in the driving rain of the Second City and it only seemed a matter of time before the home side would add to their tally.

But the fourth bonus try was never forthcoming and Moseley chief Maggs was left to concede that it is unlikely anyone will be able to reel in Hartpury College who seem nailed on for the title. The Gloucestershire side have a 20-point cushion having won all 15 of their games so far.

Maggs added: “We have played everyone now and they are the best team we’ve played by far – the standout club in National One.

“They are going to have to slip up in a big way not to win the league so it’s going to be very difficult for anyone to catch them. But we just need to concentrate on ourselves and keep on performing.

“We have a big local derby against Coventry next week and there will be a lot riding on it. We also need to start performing away because we’ve not been good on our travels all season.”