On Saturday we were back in league action entertaining Birmingham Moseley looking to build on recent good performances. They are a big physical side with a powerful pack of forwards who had narrowly beaten us 26-28 back at their ground in October. However we had prepared well in the week previous and were confident that we could get the win but knew that this would be a big challenge and only a sound performance would do. We kicked off playing down the slope looking to build phases in their half but unfortunately gave away four penalties in the first five minutes which denied us possession and territory. They took advantage of this and a scrum five metres out from our line saw the ball moved quickly left and crash over for a converted try giving them the lead 0-7 after eight minutes. Despite this setback, we responded well and a powerful catch and drive by the Tigers forwards deep in their twenty two was rewarded with a penalty try putting us right back in the game 7-7 after thirteen minutes. The game at this time was a scrappy disjointed affair with play being held up for a number of injuries which denied any continuity and momentum. A yellow card for our hooker Ben Gregory after 18 minutes put us down to fourteen men and they were awarded a penalty which put them back in the lead 7-10. We managed the sin bin period well and looked to put pressure on their defences at every opportunity. They got another penalty on twenty eight minutes which further extended their lead to 7-13 but we got a penalty just before the break which fly half Warren Seales converted and we went into half time 10-13 down. This was a disappointing half of rugby for the Tigers because we had not played very well. We made too many handling errors, turned the ball over too many times and lacked physicality in our collisions but still felt that we could come back and turn it around. The highlight of the half was a wonderful try saving tackle by debut full back Sam Thorpe in the top right hand corner who covered thirty metres to deny them the score. The second half started well for the visitors who got a penalty after two minutes which they put in the bottom right hand corner. From the ensuing line out their big forwards drove over for the second try and a 10-18 lead with most of the half to go. They further extended this with a penalty ten minutes later and a bit of breathing space at 10-21. We continued to put pressure on their defences and a second penalty by Warren on 61 minutes reduced the lead to 13-21. A lovely passage of play took us deep into their twenty. The ball was kept alive building phase after phase which ended with Scotland under twenties scrum half Murray Redpath diving over under the posts. Warren added the conversion and now we were right back in the game 20-21 with eight minutes to go. However we failed to clear our lines straight from the re start and they scored their third converted try. The game ended 20-28 to the visitors and another extremely disappointing loss for the Tigers. We knew that we had not performed making too many errors and giving silly penalties away. Next Saturday we are on the road with a long five hour journey to Plymouth with another huge challenge and we know that we have to put in a top performance if we are to get any reward.
Many thanks, Steve Hazz.
