No complaints as Mansfield RUFC fall foul of revenge mission

The Leicestershire outfit had been defeated 23-12 at Eakring Road earlier in the season and were determined to make amends on their own turf.

They duly reversed the loss, powering home 32-8 in a result that Mansfield coach Wayne Robinson had no complaints about.

“We knew Ashby would be a different proposition at home, and credit to them,” said Robinson, who was called into action himself. “They put together a fine performance and were good value for the win.”

The result also enabled Ashby to leap above the blue-and-whites in the 12-team table. Mansfield now sit eighth and will be hoping to return to winning ways this Saturday (kick-off 3 pm) when they entertain local rivals Ashfield in a big derby clash. Ashfield are currently next to bottom after winning only four of their 20 league matches so far this term, and were hammered 57-10 at home to top-of-the-table champions Lincoln on Saturday.

The previous encounter between Mansfield and Ashby had been a little fiery, but this time both teams were content to let the rugby do the talking, and the hosts struck first with a well-taken try.

Given the amount of possession Ashby enjoyed, it was hardly surprising that another score followed shortly afterwards. Mansfield took time to find their feet and although they eventually replied with a penalty from Robinson to cut the deficit to 14-3, the home team enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and territory for most of the opening half.

Inevitably, two more tries followed and with the scoreboard reading at 26-3 at half-time, Mansfield were staring down the barrel of a heavy defeat, with the prospect of a very exacting second period to follow.

To their credit, though, the blue-and-whites refused to buckle and began to exert some pressure of their own soon after the restart, with both forwards and backs combining well to take the game to Ashby, who picked up a yellow card when illegally halting one move.

Mansfield continued to attack and after the ball had found its way to Joe Ducker, the centre was able to slip two tackles and score in the corner, fuelling hopes, at 26-8, of a comeback by the visitors.

The only way the comeback could happen, however, was to secure more ball and for longer periods. It proved to be a feat that eluded Mansfield as the home side defended well.

Havging said that, the locals also defended well, with a highlight of the game being two particular try-saving tackles. The excellent Phil Pogmore tracked back 40 metres and took down the home centre as he was looking odds on for a certain try, and moments later, youngster Zane Ciab did the same thing, stopping the home wing from scoring ten metres from the line and with no-one at home.

Ashby managed only six points, via a couple of penalties, throughout the whole of the second half, which is testament to the way Mansfield defended. However, the hosts also shored up their own defence, preventing the visitores adding to their tally before the final whistle.