First home win of the season for Mansfield against Boston

While the drizzly conditions did make the ball greasy, it wasn’t enough to ruin what was a thoroughly enjoyable spectacle.

Mansfield had come close in their last two home games, gaining losing bonus points in both, but would not want that to be their legacy at Eakring Road this season.

It took perhaps a bit longer than they would have liked to really get a foothold but they were able to weather both the rain and the opponents to clinch victory.

Head coach Nathan Hill was understandably proud of the performance, saying: “I thought our second half in particular was strong but we need that intensity from the beginning.”

As seems to be the way this season, the blue-and-whites were slow to get into the game and were 3-0 down within the first five minutes thanks to a Boston penalty.

Boston had clearly come with the intention of playing direct rugby and were able to exploit gaps in the home team’s midfield.

Mansfield did manage to get themselves back on equal footing with a penalty from Taran Elms who had a good game with the boot.

However, the visitors once again took the lead after turning the ball over and scything through the defence to register the first try. A successful conversion saw them extend the lead to 10-3.

An exchange of penalties saw the scores rise further but no change in the lead.

With the scores at 13-6 to the visitors and entering the final 10 minutes of the half, Mansfield were struggling to find their footing.

Defensively, they were managing to repel the Boston attacks and there were attempts to create space out wide but too often the cohesion with the final pass was missing.

After exploiting another midfield gap, the visitors put a chip through to turn the covering defence.

After a bit of football and the characteristic unpredictable bounce of the ball, Boston gathered and crashed over in the corner.

With the celebrations that followed, it was clear Boston thought this was their game to win. However, the tricky conversion was missed and the half-time score read 18-9, still a closable gap.

The second half saw Mansfield grow into the game and begin to take control.

So much so that the visitors were only able to add three points to their tally.

This was where the Blue-and-Whites started to put together some good phases of play and shore up what had been some defensive weaknesses from the first half.

They were more adventurous in open play, managing to break through the previously-solid Boston defence, with matchday sponsor AIPS Insurance’s Man of the Match Kyan Johnson making a nuisance of himself.

It was with one of these battering-rams through the middle that the home team got themselves back on the score sheet.

A deft chip over the defence was further toe-poked by Elms who was able to chase and drop on the ball before it went dead. Elms then converted his own try to bring the score to 18-16.

The next score went to Boston, a solitary penalty their only addition to the score sheet in the second half, taking them 21-16 in front.

Mansfield were much more solid in defence this half and were able to repel numerous waves of pressure, disrupt the lineout and while not consistently dominate the scrum, at least disrupt it enough to ensure Boston weren’t getting the smoothest of platforms.

Another break through the middle of the park saw Ellis Fletcher on the receiving end of a perfectly floated pass to bring the scores level. A successful conversion by Elms saw Mansfield go into the lead for the first time at 23-21.

With time running out, another exchange of penalties saw both teams given opportunity to grow their score.

The visitors missed theirs while Elms was successful, moving the home team to a five point lead.

With the score at 26-21, it seemed as if this game was destined to be won or lost by small margins. That small margin was a lineout on the Mansfield 5m line.

A penalty to Boston gave them the opportunity to pressure one last time and at least force a draw.

Even if this went to plan, a tense touchline conversion would still be needed to snatch victory.

However, a single Blue-and-White arm was the difference as the lineout was stolen, the ball recycled and then decisively booted into touch, signalling the final whistle.

The final score read 26-21 to the home team and their first victory of the season at Eaking Road.

Mansfield will again not be happy that they conceded early on as it has become a repeating motif so far this season.

However, once they managed to settle themselves there was a tightness to the game.

They defended well, including withstanding successive phases on their own 5m line and ultimately turning the ball over.

Boston were not a team willing to lie down and really dominated much of the first half. However, they struggled to maintain that dominance in the second half, a spate of injuries not helping their consistency.

There is a cohesion within the Mansfield squad and they are more than holding their own so far in this league but they will need to demonstrate that cohesion from the beginning whistle to ensure they don’t give themselves too much of a hill to climb.