Magical Mike breaks Mose hearts with a last-gasp try
ROSSLYN Park snatched a dramatic last-gasp win against Birmingham Moseley in a thrilling encounter that kept the south-west London crowds entertained throughout.
The home side got the better of the first half as tries for Nev Edwards and Thomas VaughanEdwards, added to five points from the boot of Harry Leonard, created a sizeable lead.
Birmingham Moseley responded with four second-half tries but Mike MacFarlane got another for Rosslyn, and then dramatically sealed the points with his second a minute before time.
Mose director of rugby Richard Protherough was disappointed with the feeling of déjà vu after the last-minute defeat: “We’ve lost five of our games in the last ten minutes, a little bit down to lack of composure so at the moment we are at the foot of the table.
“We’ve got lots to work on to make sure that we start winning some of these games in which we are coming a close second.”
A scrappy start saw only a Leonard penalty for Rosslyn Park on 27 minutes separate the teams.
The broken deadlock sparked Park into life as five minutes later Edwards touched down under the posts.
Soon after, hooker Vaughan-Edwards touched down again finishing a driving maul that was set up well from a lineout – both tries were converted by Leonard to give Park a 15-0 lead at the break.
The defeat may have left Protherough understandably frustrated, but Park head coach Kieran Power was also less than impressed with his side’s afternoon.
“It was one of our worst performances of the season,” said Power.
“We wanted to play more expansive rugby but fair play to Moseley, they are at the wrong end of the league and they’re a lot better side.
“They’re a big side, they’ve got a lot of experience, a lot of ex-Championship players, their coaching staff are excellent, I just think that things haven’t clicked for them this year and they
should be a lot higher.”
Lewis Bean touched down for Birmingham after a probing attack on 43 minutes and it was converted by James Williams.
MacFarlane struck back for Park shortly after taking advantage of a gap in the Moseley defence to touch down.
A yellow card handed to Benjamin Marfo for obstruction 15 minutes into the second half was made the most of by Moseley – with three tries in the next 15 minutes.
The first was scored by Taraiasi Wara before man of the match Sam Pointon finished a fantastic solo run clinically.
Pointon added the third after another mazy run but none were converted by the Midlanders, setting up a tense finish with the scores level at 22-22 with seven minutes left.
The clock ticked down as Rosslyn won a lineout before a maul, that seemed to last an age, culminated in a try for MacFarlane.
Relief for Park and heartbreak for Birmingham Moseley, who travel to Sale and Blackheath respectively next week.