On Saturday we were away to Birmingham Moseley in our 6th game of the season looking for a big reaction and a better performance than the week before against Bishop Stortford. We had beaten Moseley in this fixture last season but we were taking nothing for granted as they had started the campaign well with four wins and just one loss and were lying fourth in the table. They are big well drilled side who can be very dangerous when they get into your twenty two so it was important that we defended well and cut down the number of penalties that we had been giving away. It was a fine dry day with a strong wind blowing down the sloping pitch. They won the toss and elected to play against the elements so it was important that we put points on the board in this first half. Early exchanges were pretty even with both teams testing each other defences looking for territory and possession. A sharp line break by the Tigers fly half Charlie Wardle saw the ball moved quickly to winger Rhys Henderson who touched down in the bottom right hand corner to put us 5-0 up after three minutes. We followed this up with a well taken penalty for full back Oli Glasse twelve minutes later to further extend the lead 8-0 with most of the half to go. We were playing good controlled rugby at this point and only unnecessary penalties enabled Moseley to get into our half. However our defence sets were solid and we were able to clear our lines time after time. A penalty on their line saw the Tigers forwards drive over for hooker Harry Thompson touch down for our second try. Oli added the conversion and we were now 15-0 up going into the last fifteen minutes of the half. Five minutes later a strong run down the right by winger Rhys Henderson which he kicked on was collected and eventually fed to supporting prop Jon Blanchard who touched down for our third try. Oli converted and we were now 20-0 up with ten minutes to go before the break. Unfortunately a yellow card for winger Will Bradley meant that we were down to fourteen players and it was during this period that Moseley scored their first try after a good line break. Despite this another penalty for Oli on 36 minutes saw us go into the break with a commanding 23-7 lead. The second half was always going to be a massive challenge playing into a very strong wind and so it proved to be. A penalty for the home side saw them kick to the corner from which their forwards powered over to reduce the lead to 23-14 with only three minutes gone. Twelve minutes later another powerful surge into our twenty two saw them drive over for their third converted try and put them right back in the game 23-21. We did respond with a third penalty from Oli on 59 minutes but every time we looked to put phases together we were penalised which gave the home side possession and territory. Another forward drive by Moseley in the seventy third minute gave them their fourth and bonus point try and the game finished frustratingly 26-28 to the home side. We did have a few chances to get the win but were not accurate enough. We did get the losing bonus point and our performance overall was so much better but we were very disappointed with the result. The effort and commitment of all the players was exceptional and special mention for winger Rhys Henderson who scored the first try and created the third. Next week we are at home against Plymouth looking to build on this positive performance so please come and support the Tigers.
Thanks, Steve Hazz.\
