Bakewell are blasted as Mansfield hit top form at Eakring Road

Mansfield were looking to develop themselves after a good win last week and Bakewell were looking to put down a marker of their own after a disjointed season.

While the scoreboard clearly shows the gap between the teams and the home team did deserve the win, it’s a credit to Bakewell that they never stopped grafting from the first to the last minute.

Head coach Wayne Robinson was understandably happy and said: “I thought we played excellently, kept the pressure on and showed good development from last week.”

The game opened about as well as anyone could hope for, Jed Ducker being on hand to register the first points of the game in the top corner. A difficult conversion was missed but the home team had put a marker down after less than a minute.

This would be the pattern for much of the game. Mansfield did well to exploit the wider channels and use the lightning pace of wingers Rio Turner and Rob Marsden to find and exploit gaps in the visitor’s defence.

This especially paid dividends for Marsden as he added a second to the home team’s tally with a 60m sprint after breaching the opposition’s defence. A successful conversion from John Ross Ward saw the blue-and-whites into a 12-0 lead.

While the home team were able to exploit the wide channels, they were made to work hard in the pack. The scrums were largely even for much of the first half with Bakewell able to secure and utilise most of their own ball.

The lineouts were a similar story with the visitors setting and driving a number of rolling mauls. They got close a couple of times but were unable to find that final drive to cross the whitewash.

In this area the home team’s defence was rock solid and was able to repel some punishing phases near their own line.

As the game progressed, the blue-and-whites managed to gain control of the scrum and were able to win turnovers in the ruck.

Most of the remaining tries came from long range with Bakewell’s defence pulled across the park. Matchday sponsor Stobuild’s Player of the Match Fin Holt snagged Mansfield’s third and his first after a back-and-forth of turnovers, again exploiting the fissures growing in the visitor’s defence. Nathan Hind showed impressive pace and a delicate step that saw him beat the last defender and add another to the tally.

With two more tries added to the tally by Zayn Chiapetta and Henry Haskell in the next 10 minutes and four successful conversions by Ward, the Blue-and-White’s half-time total to 40.

Bakewell managed to get their sole points of the game in the first half, a powerful drive out on the wing saw them power through three home defenders to register an impressive try of their own. A difficult conversion was missed, leaving the half-time score 40-5 to the home team.

The second half played out much like the first.

The pack provided a solid platform to work on, securing much of their own ball in the lineouts and managing to gain the advantage in the scrum.

This platform, along with dogged and determined defence, allowed the backs to play the ball with pace and look for any rifts they could wrench open.

As with any game that contains a high score, errors do often slip in. Bakewell contained to be a nuisance all afternoon but still just couldn’t find the final pass or drive to finish off their passages of play.

The home team were frustrating at times with dropped balls coming from speculative passes.

While it would be unfair to say that the team developed ‘white line fever’, there were a few occasions where more patience and restraint would have seen potentially more tries being scored.

Speaking of the tries, there were plenty.

Chiapetta opened up the scoring with his second while Turner utilised his pace well to carve through a tiring Bakewell defence and register an impressive quartet, capping off a well-rounded game for him. Holt added another try to his name to put his name down as one to watch.

Three successful conversions by Ward boosted the final score- an emphatic victory that definitely provides a platform for the final few games of the season.

While the scoreline won’t be something Bakewell will want to look at too much over the next few days, they can take heart from the determination they showed and the resilience they clearly have in abundance.

Even though errors did creep in during the second half, the home team looked impressive and clinical throughout and have showed that there is much more cohesion within the team this season.

The remaining fixtures of the season are a good opportunity for them to cement that and finish on a high.

Mansfield second XV lost 28-14 to a very impressive Mosborough side and in a packed docket at Eakring Road Mansfield thirds lost 48-20 to Belper.

Mansfield's women suffered a heartbreaking 33-32 loss to Sutton Bonnington Womens Students side in their NC League fixture.

This Saturday Mansfield host Grimsby - you can follow the action on Twitter @Mansfieldrugby.