An inexperienced Rams RFC fell to a final day defeat at Birmingham Moseley as they finished the National One campaign as runners-up for a second consecutive season.
An awful start saw the visitors 24-0 down inside 16 minutes as Aquile Smith, Ryan Roach, Freddie Painter and Sam Pointon all touched down, Tighe Maxwell-Whiteley with two conversions before Max Hayman’s 26th try of the campaign got Rams on the board, Fraser Honey adding the extras.
A Maxwell-Whiteley penalty extended the hosts’ advantage, only for Honey to convert Mike Hoyt’s close-range effort for 27-14 at the break.
The latter doubled his tally to give the away side hope before Ollie Allsopp and Callum Allen went over for Mose, a maiden National One try for Finn Matthews and an Ollie Monye effort proving mere consolations for the visitors in the final quarter.
“Birmingham started the game superbly, playing some outstanding rugby and we found ourselves 24-0 down which was pretty interesting,” said Rams director of rugby Seb Reynolds.
“They were so good, and we had new combinations at the scrum, line-out, new players coming in.
“But our guys came into the game and made it a good contest when it could have got away from us and been one where you’re thinking ‘when is this game going to end?’
“We came back well, and you could argue if we’d got the middle part of the second half right, we could have gone on and won.”
Reynolds continued: “We played some great, free-flowing rugby at the end of the first half, but we weren’t able to get on the front foot enough quite enough afterwards and we ended up chasing – they always only needed one or two more scores to make the game safe and they did that.
“Credit to Birmingham, they had a good side out and deserved the win.”
Rams looked potent when they injected pace into the contest following the poor start, and Reynolds said: “A lot comes down to our technical execution at the breakdown and ability to keep the ball alive, and it’s something we can work on as a side.
“I thought (scrum-half) Ed (Hoadley) was very good at getting things going, it’s something he’s taken on this year with the way he manages the speed we play at.”
Also in line for praise were the two debutants, Reading University second row Liam Elston and fellow youngster Terrel Harry at prop, along with impressive travelling support.
And the Head Coach ended: “Liam was superb and for someone who’s never played anywhere near this level in his career, to come in at a strong Moseley side and do what he did was fantastic. He showed real class.
“Terrel also grew into it, and I was wanting more scrums because he did very well.
“The support has been amazing all season and the way they’ve stayed on the journey with the guys is brilliant. Home and away they’ve created incredible atmospheres and it’s what you want.”
By Richard Ashton
