Mansfield 12- 31 Belgrave

With remembrance Sunday this past weekend, the Royal British Legion once again graced Eakring
Road on Saturday afternoon with a poignant and moving parade of remembrance before kick-off, reports Phil Foster.

As always, this now annual event was a pleasure to watch. As for the game, Mansfield welcomed
Belgrave, sitting second in the league table with only one defeat. That does afford you a level of
confidence going into a game with a team sitting eight places below you.

That said, Belgrave may not have expected to go in to the half-time break with only one try to their name and the teams equal on the scoreboard.

This was a ferocious, frustrating and fiery game that wasn’t really decided until the last quarter when the visitors began to pull away and ultimately claimed victory.

Head coach Nathan Hill knows his team have to work hard in the coming weeks, saying: ‘The team need to be able to make changes on the fly, this is something we need to work on.”

The opening exchanges set up the template for pretty much the whole game: both teams were going
to batter each other senseless. Neither team was interested in kicking, this was all about direct
running and trying to find the weakness in each defence. Whilst it was hugely entertaining to watch,
it didn’t actually yield much in terms of points. That doesn’t mean there weren’t opportunities.

Mansfield had a couple of penalties but were unable to take full advantage of the field position,
either missing touch or losing the lineout. Belgrave were able to create space on the outside but
chose not to use it, ignoring numerous overlaps to run it through the middle instead, a decision that
saw them come up against the brick wall of the home defence.

The first try of the game came against the run of play. A yellow card for the home team meant they
were under increased pressure. Working through the phases in an attempt to get out of their own
half, a pass was intercepted by the opposition who ran 30 metres unopposed to score. A successful
conversion saw the visitors take a 7-0 lead.

The next piece of ill-discipline saw Belgrave reduced to 14 for a deliberate knock-on as the blue-and-
whites were building territory. At times, the game nastily bubbled over as Mansfield frustrated the
visitors time and again and they struggled to control their temperament.

While the blue-and-whites had been unable to take full advantage of their penalties up to this point,
a kick at posts gave them the opportunity to get on the scoreboard. The penalty dropped short but a
poor clearance kick from the visitors saw Tom Newton gather the ball right on the touchline and
power 30 metres toward the touchline, blitzing past three defenders on his way to open up the scoring
for his team.

Newton was immense while he was on the park and deservedly took the player of the
match award from joint matchday sponsors, Storeybuild and the Mansfield Vets and Leg-Ends.

A successful conversion from John-Ross Ward saw the scores level at 7-7 apiece. This was the score as the half time whistle blew.

The second half was much like the first, both teams continuing to play direct rugby. However, Belgrave were able to adapt and began to use the space they were creating out wide. This was something Mansfield struggled with.

The direct game wasn’t allowing the home team to make much gain and while the visitors left swathes of open space behind their defensive line, it wasn’t taken advantage of. A struggling lineout and a scrum that was under pressure added to the uphill battle the blue-and-whites were facing. Belgrave’s ill-discipline got them on the wrong side of the referee again and ultimately cost them as they received a second yellow card.

While Mansfield did get a second, unconverted, try, Jacob Hutchinson taking full advantage of space on the outside, it was to be their only points of the half. The visitors were able to pull away in the final quarter and keep the scoreboard ticking over, ultimately scoring 24 points to take their tally to 31. The full time score read 31-12 to the visitors.

Belgrave earned their victory. They were contained well for 60 minutes by an outstanding Mansfield defence and had to adapt their game outside of just running the ball straight. Their frustration was evident but they managed to ride that storm and come out bruised but triumphant.

Ultimately, they were able to take the full five points. Mansfield needed to adapt their game in the second half and were unable to do so. However, their defence really was outstanding and they can be proud of their performance in that regard, despite what the scoreline might suggest.