Austin makes Hay with a brace as Park march on
A BRACE of tries from prop Austin Hay, together with further scores from fellow front-row Jared Saunders and No.8 Hugo Ellis, wrapped up a bonus-point win for visitors Rosslyn Park at Birmingham Moseley.
But director of rugby Kieran Power admitted that his side had to work hard for the points, particularly in a nip-andtuck opening half that had the sides separated by only six points.
“Moseley are a hard, dogged side, especially at home with the crowd behind them,” the Park chief said.
“We knew we had to play the field well – and we felt we did that in the first half playing up the slope.
“Going in with a lead was vital because we felt we were the fitter side and we continued to use the field well in the second half, kicking to the corners.
“We like to play with the ball in hand, which we did against Cinderford a couple of weeks ago.
“We tried to do that again, but sometimes you have to just take what comes.”
It was Moseley’s Harry O’Brien who posted the first points of the afternoon, slotting over a penalty in front of the posts to hand his side a seventh-minute lead.
But the visitors came back strongly and claimed the opening try six minutes later from a catch-and-drive, with Ellis grounding the ball and Craig Holland adding the extras.
Boosted by the try, Park almost added a second midway through the half when some slick handling in midfield between Nick Scott and Ben Howard sent Ben Marfo down the line, but he knocked-on in the tackle just short of the line.
Moseley regained the lead after 28 minutes with a catch-and-drive of their own, Sam McNulty getting his hands on the ball as the pack trundled over the line.
But the game swung back in the visitors’ favour five minutes later as they claimed their second try of the game, hooker Saunders peeling away to dot down.
It was two tries in a frantic five minutes just before the hour that ended any hopes of a home fightback, prop Hay
claiming them both after being driven over the line by his forwards.
Replacement kicker Harry Leonard slotted over a 68th-minute penalty to wrap up the scoring. The hosts then had experienced back-rower Ashley Johnson sent to the sin-bin for barging a Park player off the ball.
Moseley’s director of rugby Adam Balding said: “To be honest, I didn’t think there was much in the game.
“They are a good side and they are second in the league for a reason, but I think we deserved something and that we gave a really good account of ourselves.”
The win was Rosslyn Park’s eighth of the campaign and, with only one defeat so far, they are second in the table behind leaders Cinderford with a game in hand.
Moseley have won five and lost five of their ten games, a record that leaves them marooned in mid-table ahead of next weekend’s trip to Bishop’s Stortford.