WITH Moseley’s season poised as precariously as it is it would be churlish to be too critical of what was after all only their fifth win of the campaign.
Four tries – for just the third time this term – and signs of returning form for some of the players around whom they have recently built their team, at least partially elevate what was otherwise a low-brow knockabout.
Or end-to-end rubbish as one wag described it.
A score for Nathan Bressington, just his third of a hugely frustrating season, and a robust display from Neil Mason will delight coaches Ian Smith and Kevin Maggs who are already planning for bigger and tougher battles.
Bressington is not yet back to his clinical best but the way he took his 60-metre counter-attack try, which was all his own work, and his increasing security under the high ball hinted at the player within.
And while Mason is still some way short of his human wrecking-ball peak, if he can continue the upward trajectory started here, he could once again establish himself as the ball-carrier his pack need him to be.
However, set against Mose’s stated aim going into this British & Irish Cup match, the afternoon has to go down as something of a failure.
According to their players Moseley have spent much of their limited training time focusing on what they do in the opposition 22. Converting pressure into points.
Once again they were lamentably inaccurate. While they scored 28 points they could have had at least 50 against a defence that was courageous but whose individuals were notably under-powered.
Forced off-loads, wild cut-out passes, poor handling and a faulty set-piece continued to undermine most of Mose’s offensive work.
MOSELEY: Thomas O; Bressington, MacBurnie, Munro, Gillick; Borgen (Styles 27), Taylor G (De La Harpe 75); Voisey, Warner (Protherough 51), Knight, Spivey (Pennycook 68 (Reay 75)), Evans (Stott 40), Mason, Pons, Ellery. Replacement: Williams
SWANSEA: Garland (Thomas L 64); Thomas N, Shelmerdine (Hathaway 78), Watts, Dirksen; Dixon, Wells (Tucker 75); Taylor W, Clatworthy (Jones 69), Fox (Arnold 77), Kiley, Jones, Morgan (Lewis 68), Pitman (Rees 43-53).
