Mansfield 38-34 Loughborough

Report by Phil Foster

Ah, Spring: chaotic queen of the seasons, betrayer of hope and tireless tormentor of outfit planning. Always keeping you on your feet, never letting you get too comfortable and just daring you to leave that coat at home! A couple of weeks ago, Spring, the dastardly prankster she is, decided she would not bathe us with warming rays of rejuvenation but instead try to drown us in a torrential downpour of misplaced optimism.

But that was before and this is now. This past week, Spring got her act together and did indeed leave us awash with clear blue skies and radiant temperature that saw Mansfield round off their league season with an entertaining victory against Loughborough. This has not been a season of highs for the blue-and-whites, there’s no hiding away from that, but this was perhaps something of a highlight reel, showing all the good stuff that has been seen throughout the last few months, even if not that consistently.

This was a thoroughly entertaining game between two clubs who, unfortunately, rest towards the bottom of the table. Mansfield started well but would actually concede the first points. A turnover in the middle of the park saw he visitors launch a counter attack, chip through the defence and then watch as the ball bobbled one way then the other, taking it away from the scrambling home defence and into the gleeful arms of a counter-attacker who just needed to sprint the remaining metres to open up their account. A missed conversion saw Loughborough take the lead, five-nil.

But this was a Mansfield team with nothing to lose. Exploiting the full width of the field has been something of an Achilles heel this season but it was much more effectively used here. Reece Flowers-Lane became the first beneficiary of this foray into the wider channels as some slick hands saw him crash through the defence to bring the scores level. A tricky conversion was missed but the scores were tied, five apiece.

The rest of the first half saw Mansfield build on this and put together some excellent passages of play. While the game itself was not without errors, turnovers, penalties and handling errors stymied both teams’ efforts at times, the home team were much more fluid than in previous weeks. The lineout functioned well, the aforementioned wide spaces were probed, high kicks and deft chips were more meaningfully used, the pack were punching holes through the midfield and there was a bigger sense of cohesion with what the team were doing. This lead to the blue-and-whites at one point getting themselves into a 26-5 lead.

Jacob Hutchison was the second name on the scoreboard, the recipient of a wonderfully floated pass by Rio Turner, who would get his turn in the spotlight soon, finding just enough space to expertly get the ball down while also being bundled into touch, possibly the try of the season at Eakring Road.

More good offloading soon followed as a dropped ball was pounced upon by the home team, chipped through, gathered and offloaded to eventually reach Taran Elms, gladly finishing under the posts. Turner had his moment next and made the most of it, his unpredictable feet making him a constant threat. This was no dancefloor Chandler Bing, this was pure fleet-of-foot magic as he danced his way around numerous defenders to keep the scores ticking over. After demonstrating the pace and width of the game, the final try of the half fell to Regan Hubabard, typically abrasive and powerful all game, who barged his way over to cap off a good season for him. This bullish display earned him the player of the match award from joint matchday sponsors, Bray’s Pipelines and The Eakring Gang.

With three conversions added by Elms, Mansfield’s tally for the half reached 31. Loughborough were not about to just roll over though. While they did struggle with the high ball at times and weren’t quite as smooth as the home team, they were powerful and pacey in their own right, especially on the wings where an abundance of speed kept Mansfield’s defence on their toes. Two tries for them, one converted and one not, saw the half time score read 31-17 to the blue-and-whites.

Unfortunately, consistency and temperament have been Mansfield’s other Achilles heels this season (if it’s even possible to have three heels). This was evident in the second half as, despite still probing and prodding, just one more try was added to their tally. Loughborough were much smoother this half and were able to not just use more of their own ball but also turned over more of Mansfield’s ball. Mansfield received a penalty in their own 22 which saw Loughborough reduced to 14 men. However, that penalty was ultimately reversed due to unnecessary off the ball shenanigans, leading to the unusual occurrence of a team receiving a yellow card and then actually receiving a penalty.

This saw the visitors pile on the pressure, receiving more penalties and ultimately scoring themselves. The conversion was missed but at 31-22 this was still game on! Two more scores added by the visitors, one converted and one not, was their lot for the day, taking the final tally to 34. Prior to those final two visitor tries came Mansfield’s only score of the second half. But, oh, what a score it was. It started with Loughborough possession before they were turned over by some excellent defence. The ball was spun out wide into the space and the blue-and-whites utilised the pace on offer to tear up the field, just a mere 80 metres or so, with Flowers-Lane taking the final stretch to add his second. Elms slotted the conversion to bring the final score to 38-34, a much closer score than perhaps would have been predicted half an hour into the game. But all the better for it.

This was an excellent way for Mansfield to close out what has been a frustrating season. This performance has been there in glimpses before but just lacked that final sheen. It came together much more readily this past weekend, showing more consistency and continuity, especially in the face of a dogged and stubborn Loughborough side. All the ingredients are there and the soufflé is rising, the challenge for next season is to perfect that golden brown shine.