SEB Reynolds had mixed emotions following Rams’ 31-28 National One home success against Birmingham Moseley.
Having fallen behind to a converted Sam McNulty maul try, a turbo-charged home side scored three tries in nine minutes through a Luke Graham double and one from Charlie Robson, three Mike Cooke kicks making it 21-7 at the break.
But with Moseley slowing the game down and using their huge pack to good effect, the scores were level on 46 minutes as Tighe Maxwell-Whiteley added to scores from Morgan Dawes and skipper Ollie Stedman.
Rams replied well, however, man-of-the-match Cooke slotting a penalty and then converting Max Hayman’s bonus-point try.
And while Will Safe crossed with the final play to snatch a brace of bonuses for Birmingham, they could not deny Rams a fifth win in six games.
Director of Rugby Reynolds said: “It was a hard-fought victory. The collisions were spine-tingling at times and what both sets of players put into the game was outstanding.
“Moseley put in a very spirited performance, but our guys responded to it wonderfully well.
“We had some moments where we could have cut loose, especially when we were 21-7 up and enjoying a real purple patch.
“But we butchered two tries which slowly brought them back into the game and then our discipline after half-time was poor.
“We were well on top and then it looked like we were throwing it away, so we had to really fightback to shift the momentum away from them – and it’s exactly what we did.
“We got into the 22, stayed there until we got the score and it was great to get the victory in the end. I was proud of our lads.”
In a fascinating contest which featured the dynamic, free-flowing approach of the home side and the more forwards-orientated one of Moseley, the visitors at times managed to have the game played at a pace they enjoyed.
The DoR continued: “You can choose to play the game however you want, and we have very different styles – but it made for a very interesting encounter.
“Birmingham are further along in their development as a team in terms of the experienced players they have, whereas we’ve had a lot of guys come in this year.
“Ollie Stedman does what he does and you have to respect it, but the RFU want the game to speed up and it’s down to the officials to move things along.
“There are meant to be quicker scrums, quicker line-outs – the time limit has come down – and that should be enforced.”
South African speedster Graham’s double made it four tries in two games for the young wing, and Reynolds ended by praising him and the 1,054-strong crowd.
He said: “Luke looked good and he’s been great coming into the side – he’s a quality player and a lovely lad.
“We want to help him keep improving, but he’s shown in the past two games he’s a very, very good finisher from short or long range and that’s a special talent.
“It was also fantastic to have such a big crowd – when we scored the three quick tries there was a massive noise and a brilliant buzz.
“We want to put on a show, and hopefully more and more people will come down in the weeks to come.”
Rams travel to Clifton next Saturday (3pm).
