Mansfield’s slow start comes back to haunt them against Southwell

Mansfield paid the price for a poor opening 20 minutes as they slipped to a 47-20 defeat at home to Southwell.

Head coach Anthony Jones knew that opening quarter made too much of a difference and said: “I thought we competed really well for most of the game but we can’t let that kind of lead happen again.”

In terms of the league, the visitors were sitting at the top of the table and it was quickly evident as to why. Within the first two minutes, they were on the board, scything open the Mansfield defence from halfway and registering the first try of the game. A successful conversion saw them take a 7-0lead.

Within 20 minutes, Southwell were 21-0 in the lead and while it would be harsh to say the contest was over, there was an Everest in front of the blue-and-whites that they had to find a way to conquer.

That said, the remainder of the half followed a much more competitive and even affair, though the gap did grow further with Southwell securing an additional two converted tries.

Mansfield dominated the scrum in the first half and the lineout was a good option for both teams to set their attack. The defences were put to work as both teams offloaded well and there was plenty of contest in the rucks with penalties and turnovers being won regularly. Oliver Avison was the embodiment of this, which saw him win the player of the match award.

The half wasn’t without some spice, though, a high shot leading to a brawl that saw both teams lose a player to the sin bin. The blue-and-whites were finally able to get themselves on the board with a penalty from the boot of Taran Elms and, after securing some successive phases, Mike Wallis powered his way through the visitors’ defence. A successful conversion by Elms saw the half time score read 35-10 to Southwell.

The second half followed the same pattern. Mansfield desperately tried to claw back those much needed points and, at times, looked the better team on the field, the visitors struggling at times to cope with some of the pressure they were being put under. A strong start saw Josh Heald burrow through some heavy defence to get the ball down. Some quick thinking at the base of a ruck also saw Elms add a try to his tally. Both of those tries were also converted by Elms. However, for all of the work the blue-and-whites did, Southwell kept adding to their score, two more tries, only one converted, seeing the final score read 47-24.

It’s not really too much to take away, but to look for the sliver of silver in a rather grey cloud, the blue-and-whites outscored the visitors in the second half.

However, there is no hiding from the fact that the opening quarter was the kind of nightmare you hope only happens once in a blue moon. An otherwise competitive game of rugby was ultimately decided by some outstanding attacking from the visitors and a defence that wasn’t ready to deal with it.