Chris Bertram on a tough start to the new season

Here we go again!  With the trauma of the relegation play-offs now behind Birmingham Moseley, a summer break to recharge the batteries and a new set of opponents to take on in battle, the team and the supporters will be looking forward to a fresh season in which reputations can be made, players can challenge themselves to new achievements, and hopefully a safe passage be negotiated to the end of the league programme.

The final match of last season was, of course, the play-off final against Oundle, who came to Billesley optimistic about toppling the home team and ascending to National League 1.  They were a well-drilled team, and indeed are a well-funded club, but they came up against a Moseley side determined to preserve its status in front of a noisy (if perhaps nervous) home crowd.  With Moseley taking a clear lead by half time, obdurate defence in the face of sustained attacks from the visitors secured the victory and meant that Oundle returned home to start again next season.

The coaching team will, of course, have drawn strength from that performance.  A solid core of the squad from last season has been retained, so there is plenty of experience in all positions to pass on to the newcomers.  New approaches will also be needed to test our opponents.  A solid set-piece has been in place for a while, and now some more enterprise in playing style could be deployed to our advantage. 

Our opening match sees us welcome one of National 1’s newcomers this season, Cambridge, the Blood and Sand.  We last played against them in April 2023, in a postponed fixture at Grantchester Road, when they needed to win to secure promotion to the Championship.  Win they did, most convincingly, but their three seasons in that league were not a happy experience as they struggled at or near the foot of the table.  At the end of last season they were in the automatic relegation slot, so they rejoin National 1 with another fixture against the team that they last played in this league!  However, Moseley will be aware that experience in a higher league will carry over, and be expecting a tough challenge in the season’s opener.

Top scorers for Cambridge last season were flanker Dan Eckersley with seven tries and fly-half Jamie Annand with 39 points including two tries.  But their overall scoring exploits were fairly modest, and they will surely be hoping to post some more impressive statistics this term.  The squad has been “rebuilt” according to the club, so there will be new hopefuls looking for opportunities to make a name for themselves.

For Moseley, top try scorer hooker Ben Pogson (12 tries) has stayed with the club, as has flanker Morgan Dawes (8).  We will miss retired captain Ollie Stedman, and his 10 tries from last season but new blood will surely take up where he left off.  From the tee, we will be looking to fly-half Harry Read, who impressed in that department in the play-off games, to carry on mining that rich vein of form. On-field captains Ethan Priest and Fin Smith will be urging the team forward to build scorelines that earn victory, home and away.

We start with a clean slate, a new squad, and a new determination to show the other teams what we can do.  The supporters, deprived of league rugby since May, will be delighted to be back, cheering on the red-and-blacks with the passionate cry:

“Come on Moseley”