Moseley Colts 5 - 20 Worcester Colts
Worcester visited Moseley for the first of a two-match friendly series. It was perfect rugby weather, sunny, and still at the fantastic Moseley ground.
Worcester pressured Moseley from kick-off. Fraser Gore released a nice pop to George Cunliffe. Despite going sideways, he left enough room for the ball to go through the backline ending with Tom Kinnersley scoring in the corner. Conversion missed. Worcester took an early 0 - 5 lead.
Worcester were now playing with confidence. Oli Catherwood and Will Meredith both running the ball back deep into the Moseley half every time Moseley tried to exit their 22.
Oli Catherwood ran back following another clearance to release George Cunliffe, finally, running straight this time and he makes 20m through the middle. At the breakdown, Moseley are pinged in front of posts. On a bad day for kicking from both teams, the penalty was missed.
Worcester continued to pressure the Moseley line, with only a strong Moseley defence and some white line fever preventing Worcester from scoring.
A perfectly weighted kick from Fraiser Gore bobbled over the line only for Moseley to get there first.
After 37 minutes, Moseley made their first visit to Worcesters 22 and made it count as they drove over in the corner to score. With the conversion missed, the score is drawn 5 - 5 at halftime. Worcester left ruing missed chances from the clear territory advantage they had in the first half.
Worcester started strong in the second half, camping out in the Moseley 22 for an extended period. In this half, Moseley tried to run the ball out of the 22. Worcester seized on a Moseley dropped pass, and Tom Owen powered over to score. Conversion missed. After all the pressure, Worcester eventually took a 5 - 10 lead.
Worcester eventually pushed the ball wide for Tom Kinnersly to go over in the corner for his second try after another period of sustained pressure. Worcester extended their lead to 5 - 15.
Harvey Sharpe almost scored his first Worcester try, only for the referee to ignore the advantage, stopping play to issue a yellow to Moseley for backchat.
Oscar Vickers collected a poor throw from the Moseley lineout and went on a barnstorming run to score from 30 meters out.
With the conversion missed, in what proved to be the final play of the game. Worcester win 5 - 20.
Gavin Vickers, Joint Head Coach "Today was a challenge for us on several fronts but we were glad to come out on top in the last quarter. This was the biggest stand we've played in front of this year and you could hear the parents and supporters clearly from the pitch - so we thank them for making the journey into Birmingham.
We welcomed back several players who had been rested or had been away including one debutant who hadn't played with us since mini-rugby and the predominantly U17 team gelled together well. Recently we've been focussing on catching up on our set piece having missed some critical periods with the covid lockdowns and have been trying to put more structure into our attacking and defensive game.
Our scrum challenged much better this week as we gain in confidence but Moseley had some good lineout operators that disrupted our throw so we still have work to do in this area. We look forward to welcoming Moseley to Worcester in a couple of weeks time for what will be a hard-fought contest."
Worcester Squad: Will Pritchard, Charlie Lewis, Chris Saul- Clayton, Joe Small, Francis Shiels, Freddie Whitaker, Tom Owen, Joel Rickman, Noah Korff, Tom Ward, Ashley Williams, Tom Ward, George Cunliffe, Oscar Vickers, Ben Waddington, Ed Duffy, Fraser Gore, Ben Atkins, Isiah Martin, Ben Warman, Ben Bassford, Will Meredith, Ollie Catherwood, Tom Kinnersley
Match Photographer: Meryl Owen
Additional Photos in the Gallery by Charlie Cunliffe
