Mowden suffer cruel late defeat

A TRY in the second minute of added time decided a match which always looked like being tight and confirmed that there will be no more easy games for Mowden.

The battle between two promoted sides underlined that both deserve their National One status, but after the comfortable win at home to Macclesfield this defeat left Mowden in no doubt of the survival task ahead.

It was a gripping encounter for the 900 fans at The Northern Echo Arena, but among the things Mowden will look at this week is their defence when the ball is turned back inside as the first and fourth of the visitors’ tries came that way.

While the decisive one resulted from a well-worked move it should have been snuffed out and perhaps it would have been with a specialist open side on the field.

Mowden may have asked too much of man of the match Callum Mackenzie, a player they always want in the side, whether at wing, centre or in the back row.

He tackled tirelessly at blind side and ran strongly with the ball, but the back row did not look as well balanced after Jack Allcock was taken off.

Ball retention will be another area to work on. Coughing up possession had proved very costly at Esher the previous week and again Mowden were punished for knock-ons and ill-directed passes, often resulting from a lack of patience.

They were also guilty of two ill-conceived chip kicks late in the game, which merely gave the ball away.

They could not be blamed for one promising attack being halted by the referee imagining a forward pass. It is one of the game’s oddities that officials are so keen to blow in such instances yet ignore the IRB’s directive about a straight feed at scrums.

Hartpury’s blend of experienced Gloucester men and lively students proved a potent mix and while they were always alert for the chance to attack from deep they also drove a line-out 25 metres to score their second try.

That made it 14-7 at half-time after Mowden had taken an early lead through the first of full back Henry Robinson’s two close-range tries.

It followed a penalty to the right corner and much recycling of the ball until Robinson squeezed over on the left, but the visitors were level within four minutes after Mowden lost the ball on halfway.

Hartpury worked their way to the 22, won a ruck and turned the ball inside for their 6ft 9in lock to storm over by the posts.

A player of such stature is something Mowden lack, but they did unveil another powerful young prop in Simon Uzokwe, who had an impressive 40 minutes off the bench.

When he and Matt Shields were in tandem Mowden began to get on top in the scrums, but the introduction of replacement hooker Charlie Maddison was shortlived as he was again injured.

There was never much in it and Mowden could have led at half-time had they taken their chances. After a penalty to the corner saw the line-out lost, Garry Law pulled a shot at goal wide and No 8 Ollie Hodgson’s 25-metre break off a scrum came to nothing.

But they drew level after 57 minutes after another penalty to touch.

The recycled ball was moved left and Mackenzie went powerfully for the line before popping it up for Robinson to score.

With eight minutes of normal time left Hartpury went back in front when they attacked at pace up the left and exposed a lack of cover.

Three minutes later Mowden were level again when they drove a line-out ten metres before lock Rob Conquest burrowed over in the right corner and Law added an excellent conversion.

A draw would have been a fair result and even after a knock-on 35 metres out allowed Hartpury to score from the scrum there was still just enough time for the restart.

Mowden claimed the ball and there were shades of last season’s play-off win against Ampthill as they kept recycling the ball and inching forward, knowing the next stoppage would be final. They were five metres short when the referee suddenly decided they were guilty of not releasing.

It seemed a bit harsh but National One is a tough place to be.