Improving Mansfield amass half-century of points and eight tries

Improving Mansfield burst into the top five of the National League, Midlands 3 East (North) division table after racking up a 50-point haul to dispose of Grimsby at Eakring Road.
Action from Mansfields excellent 50-15 victory at home to Grimsby to lift them into the top five of the table.Action from Mansfields excellent 50-15 victory at home to Grimsby to lift them into the top five of the table.
Action from Mansfields excellent 50-15 victory at home to Grimsby to lift them into the top five of the table.

For the second week running, the blue-and-whites bagged a try-scoring bonus point as they showed a level of dominance absent in recent years. They now sit only five points off third place after the comprehensive 50-15 victory.

Happy head coach Wayne Robinson said: “The first 20 minutes, when we went 19-0 up, won us the game. We had to dig deep in the second half when we didn’t have much possession. But we got the win and the bonus point, and that’s what matters.”

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Mansfield looked cohesive and unified, with the previous week’s hat-trick hero, centre Joe Ducker, again at the heart of the action to take the man-of-the-match award thanks to an imperious performance that was his best of the season.

Indeed it was Ducker who started the ball rolling with a try after only five minutes as he powered through half a dozen attempted tackles for a score that was followed by a successful conversion from fly-half John Ross Ward.

Ducker’s efforts were matched by forward power, with the home side’s rolling maul again proving quite a weapon. After another lineout, the ball was secured and driven forward for flanker Phil Pogmore to peel off and dive over the line for the second try, which was again converted.

Moments later, the strength of Mansfield’s defence led to a scrum, which resulted in try number three, gleefully taken by stalwart front-rower Liam Grant. And the bonus-point try, which was secured before the half-hour mark, was a sight to behold. The ball was shipped crisply to Ducker, who covered the remaining 70 metres to the line, leaving numerous flailing defenders in his wake and underlining again how more effective he is at centre, rather than on the wing.

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Another conversion extended Mansfield’s lead to 26-0, which became a heady 33-0 by half-time as another punishing rolling maul by a united pack of forwards led to a try for Mike Wallace, who bided his time before dotting down. And the second period also opened with a home try when another rampaging run by Ducker and some solid recycling play saw Tim Pritchard reap the rewards to make it 38-0.

To their credit, Grimsby refused to buckle and had some skills up their sleeves of their own after being galvanised by a half-time team-talk. They applied solid pressure to the home defence for much of the second 40, and scored three tries. The first came after a nice overlap and simple pass and the next two were impressive scores.

However, Mansfield hadn’t finished yet. A fantastic intercept and score by an alert Andreas Zacharia got them back on the scoresheet before the afternoon was rounded off by their eighth try, claimed by forward Mark Wallis to reward his often-unheralded hard work.

The scores topped a display in which it was pleasing to see a desire to actually run the ball, rather than kick possession away. Now Mansfield are in fine fettle for this weekend’s Nottinghamshire Shield match away to Nottingham Moderns, which can be followed on Twitter via @MansfieldRugby.