Chris Bertram says “same again please”

A reaction was hoped for after two disappointing results, and a reaction was what we got, as Birmingham Moseley saw off Tonbridge Juddians at Billesley.  TJs were coming off the back of an opening run of seven wins from as many matches, and must have been fancying their chances of a first win at the Common, but it was not to be.  Moseley had clearly learned the lesson from the loss to Rosslyn Park – that game was lost in the first fifteen minutes, but this time Moseley won the game in that same time frame, and TJs had too much to do to catch up, with a last minute try sealing the deal for the home side, leaving TJs with just one try bonus point to take home.

The bonus point victory somehow didn’t improve Moseley’s league position – they remain eighth – but, importantly, it did increase the points gap ahead of the dreaded eleventh place to six points.  That spot is now occupied by Bury St Edmunds, with Rams and Bishop’s Stortford just ahead of them.  Moseley are level with London Scottish on 23 points, with Rosslyn Park one point ahead.  It remains tight, and any of these clubs could beat the others on their day. 

Maintaining the differential with the bottom four places will be vital over the coming weeks, and with a tough run of fixture ahead, any points from these games will be very welcome.  The Tonbridge match was the first of a series of encounters with sides in the top four of the table.  Round 9 takes us to fourth placed Leeds Tykes, six points ahead of Moseley, and with five wins to their credit.  These wins have, however, mostly come against sides below Moseley in the current table, and they did sustain a surprise loss to Sheffield early in the season.  At home they have won two and lost two, one of the victories being a 57-10 demolition of London Scottish.  Consistency may be eluding them, but on their day they can be very effective.

Tykes dominate the overall head-to-head series with 21 wins to Moseley’s 6 (1 draw), but Moseley will be drawing inspiration from last season’s visit to The Sycamores, which was Ollie Thomas’s first match as head coach.  Coming off a run of four defeats, including home losses to Sale FC and Rotherham, and a frustrating 1-point reverse at Sedgley Park, Moseley ran rampant in damp conditions and were four tries to the good before Leeds managed a reply, eventually triumphing by 42-17.   A repeat of this would be ideal, but one suspects that the team will settle for a win of any kind.   The fact that Leeds edged the return fixture with a last-minute try will have to be put to one side for now.

Centre Matt Salisbury dominates Leeds’ try scoring with 11 of their 41.  He is in his second season at the club, having graduated from Leeds Beckett University and clearly stepping up to the higher level of rugby very well.  He has scored in every game he has played in, with a couple of hat-tricks, so will need to be watched carefully.  No other player has more than 5 tries.  Top scorer overall is fly-half Edward Crossland with 58 points, all from the boot.  He is also in his second season at The Sycamores, but has a longer league pedigree, having started at Otley in 2021.

Moseley continue to share the try scoring around, with hooker Ben Pogson bagging a brace last week to move to five tries.  Flanker Morgan Dawes crossed for his third, centre Harry Ingram scored his second, and prop Fred Ma’a touched down for the second week running.  Fly-half Harry Read converted five out of five, missing only a long-range penalty attempt, and remains leading scorer with 57 points.  Opposing teams will have to reckon with a team that can score from any position on the field and an accurate kicker who can improve any score.

It’s a long trip to Leeds, and The Sycamores is on the north side of the city.  No supporters’ coach is running this time, but there will doubtless be a band of hardy independent travellers making the journey to the West Riding.  Saturday may be dull and a little damp, but the spirits of the Moseley supporters will be up after last weekend’s victory, and be with them as they issue the passionate cry:

“Come on Moseley”