Mansfield awash with discipline issues in Saturday downpour defeat to Bourne

If at some point in July, while the world set itself on fire, you happened to be wondering where all the rain went, well, we found most of it this past Saturday. As the heavens emptied themselves, the players found themselves engaged in a battle against Mother Nature as much as against each other.

Balls were dropped, tackles were missed and both sides’ frustrations grew. Mansfield’s ill-discipline saw them get on the wrong side of the referee and stay there, choking their ability to find any consistent phases. While both sides struggled against the elements, it was the visitors who ended up with the victory by the smallest of margins.

Head coach Anthony Jones was succinct afterwards, adding: “Disappointed. I think that’s the overriding feeling.”

The rain was always going to impact the fluidity of this contest. That said, both teams were willing to try and spread it wide, using the pace they had outside, and did try to keep the ball alive whenever possible.

This was initially to Mansfield’s favour as they were able to open the scoring very quickly, Oli Avison crashing over in trademark style, a trademark style that saw him pick up the player of the match award from matchday sponsors John Heath and Bray’s Pipelines LTD. The conversion was missed but the home team were on the board, 5-0. Unfortunately, the rest of the half was dominated by the weather, with both teams making gains and playing phases before ultimately dropping the ball or being turned over.

Mansfield were able to disrupt the visitors’ lineout but the momentum in the scrum swung wildly, both teams enjoyed being dominant and dominated as each set piece became a lottery. In one of those periods of scrum dominance, Bourne were able to effectively drive their scrum forward from 10 metres out and simply drop on the ball over the line. A missed conversion saw the scores read 5 apiece.

As the half came to a close, Mansfield’s discipline started to slip and a yellow card right on the whistle of half time saw the beginning of what would be a torrid 40 minutes of rugby.

The second half saw much of the same. Mansfield were awesome in the lineout, never giving their opponents a clean throw, which helped disrupt a lot of the penalties that were kicked to touch.

Due to this pressure, Bourne decided to go for three points when they received another penalty, taking them in to a 5-8 lead. Despite having the lion’s share of possession, the visitors struggled to make it count when needed. Then they received their own yellow card, allowing the momentum to swing. Danny Spencer, taking advantage of the resulting pressure, picked up from the base of a scrum and powered his way over. A successful conversion by Taran Elms saw the home team back in the lead, 12-8. However, Mansfield’s discipline would ultimately be the decider between the two teams.

A further two yellow cards to the blue-and-whites, and a penalty try for good measure, saw the away team jump in to the slenderest of leads, 12-15. Despite there still being time left, the blue-and-whites were unable to find the final pass and the game ended in defeat.

Both teams will be disappointed with this game. Bourne, despite being victorious, should have converted more of their possession into points; such profligacy may not go unpunished in the future. On the discipline issues, Mansfield must do better.

This was not an easy game to play by any stretch but, at times, they were their own worst enemy and frustration was visible to see. There is clearly more to see from this team, and next week will give them the opportunity to wipe this result from the memory.