By Brian Dick, Birmingham Post
March 9 2009

This was not the first time this season Moseley have lost in the last few minutes of a match but it might prove to be the most costly. Not only has this defeat snatched from the jaws of victory imbued their nearest relegation rivals with genuine hope, it could also turn out to be the sort of dispiriting bodyblow from which teams find it difficult to recover. This is a good time to gain momentum - as Esher have done with four wins in their last five matches, it is a very poor time to lose it and Moseley appear to be doing just that.

With their small squad stretched to breaking point by absence, injury and the whims of He Who Must Be Obeyed down the M5, one fears it is only going to become more overworked by an eye-watering fixture backlog.

That is not to say they don’t have enough winnable games left in their programme to sneak ahead of either Esher or Rotherham and possibly even both. But they will have to start picking and choosing which of those matches they target as the likeliest route to safety. And they will also have to find a cure for the Dropsies and injudicious kicking that is undermining their chances of making next term’s Championship.

It was what cost them at the incongruously named Pillar Data Arena. Of Esher’s 23 points, Moseley can claim to have created at least 17, certainly the two tries that gave their hosts the perfect start and finish.

Before the post-mortem begins, however, we should admit that Moseley were unfortunate to play their most important match of the season without their best forward and back.

While Mark Evans did his best filling in for James Rodwell at No 8 and Andy Binns was outstanding in Jack Adams’ outside-centre berth, their unavailability enforced an unfamiliar gameplan on the visitors.

A team that likes to play expansively wore a tactical straitjacket and spent most of the game playing just one pass away from the breakdown. But if conservative is what you’re setting out to be, you have to accept the points when they are on offer. Moseley did not do this.

Don’t be fooled by Tristan Roberts’ excellent individual try, the young fly-half had a shocker. More often than not, Ian Smith’s men spurned eminently kickable goal-kicking positions and when they didn’t, they should have because the kid from Kingsholm spooned two makeable attempts wide.

Read rest of article here

ESHER 23 MOSELEY 17

Discussion started by Unofficial Coventry Rugby (IP Logged), 09/03/2009 19:49

Unofficial Coventry Rugby
09/03/2009 19:49

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