Street's win draws a number of teams closer to the Relegation Battle.  

After three wins on the bounce, Broadstreet should have been riding high on a wave of good form, however the scrappy nature of the wins against the three bottom sides demonstrated that this was far from the case.  Mansfield RFC’s playing record in the club’s first season in National 3 has been reasonably good with some fantastic results (losing narrowly to Rugby Lions RFC, for example) as part of a solid progression that has earned them the reputation of being a strong Forward-orientated side writes Luke Truslove.

As per usual Broadstreet failed to field the same team on consecutive weeks with Eddie Simkiss moving to Number 8 for the impressive, but unavailable, Stewart Hendry.  Eddie's gap in Second Row row being filled by the returning Nick Pratt who had been out for eight weeks with an MCL strain.  Liam McCrea replaced Matt Dearden at Tighthead whilst David Roff and Jamie 'Mentally Stable' Dodd were new faces on the bench.  Positively, the Backs remained unchanged.

TEAM: Beales, Dawes, McCrea, Greevy, Pratt, C Dodd, Zutic, Simkiss, Simpson, Richards, Bicknell, Challis, Freemantle, Veeble, Harman.  SUBS: Roff, J Dodd, Funnell.

Broadstreet started off well using the Pack to set themselves up in the Mansfield Half.  Taking advantage of Mansfield foul play, Street pinned the visitors back into their own 22 with a well placed touch finder.  After one stuttering catch ’n’ drive Broadstreet made much better use of a second one to provide the foundation for the eleventh Try of the season for Ben Dawes and put Broadstreet in the lead after just five minutes. Unfortunately, Scott Harman was not able to add the extras.  5-0

A few minutes later Mansfield broke up the field in an attack that looked promising, but it was unfortunately brought short when Mansfield Lock Aiden McGregor suffered a bad back injury.  Following a very long stoppage of play, McGregor was taken to hospital where thankfully the examination revealed no permanent damage.

In the next few phases Broadstreet began to show patterns of play that have been sadly lacking for the majority of the season and actually managed to hold onto the ball for extended periods of possession.  These phases began to suck in the Mansfield defenders down the short side of the pitch until, after reaching the danger zone, Simpson fed the Backs.  A deft pass from Richards unleashed a full pace Veeble who cut through the Mansfield defensive line and attacked the covering Full Back.  Most Wings would have been thinking only of the Try Line that lurked near, but Veeble executed your standard Under 10s two-on-one, to feed Full Back Scott Harman who was one of many Broadstreet Backs waiting to score the Try.  Undoubtedly, Broadstreet coach Richard Siviter’s most satisfactory Try of the year so far.  10-0

Harman followed up his two missed Conversions with a missed Penalty which meant that, when Mansfield Fly Half Lee Shaw struck two Penalties in the five minutes before Half Time, we were surprisingly just four points up, despite dominating most of the Half.  After a Scrum, the two Packs had a quick dust-up but you’d have found more connections on a internet dating website and the Half was brought to a close.

HT 10-6

The Second Half opened with another three missed kicks at goal which should have extended our lead much further, but unfortunately they all drifted agonisingly wide.  However, to save Harman's blushes, Broadstreet’s dominant Pack took control and opted for a Scrum the next time they were in sight of the Try Line.  A hefty push from the Broadstreet Pack marched the Mansfield boys backwards and Number 8 Chris Dodd, after making a good attempt at faffing it up, touched down over the line.  Another missed Conversion, this time by Danny Richards.  15-6

Luke Veeble deservedly scored Broadstreet’s fourth and fifth tries which secured the Try Scoring Bonus Point and effectively ended any chance that Mansfield may have had in clawing their way back into the game.  Playing at 13 after a bad injury to Todd Freemantle late in the First Half, Wing Veeble, originally from Market Bosworth RFC, had a faultless game showing great power and pace to break the Mansfield defensive line at will, but also a good knowledge of the game to offer greater opportunities to those playing off him.  Danny Richards slotted both Conversions to make the final score 29-6

FT 29-6  A much more complete performance from Broadstreet who seemed to control all aspects of the game, which meant that spectators didn’t have many anxious moments.  A surprisingly bad day from a kicking perspective meant that the eventual margin was much, much less than it should have been.

MotM – Luke Veeble on top form.

DotD – Chris Zutic whose wayward pass close to our line (two metres too high and five metres too long) was as close to an own goal as you can get in Rugby!

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