What a difference a week can make.
After the sublime performance that saw the Club trounce Kent rivals Tonbridge Juddian 40-0 the previous Saturday, Blackheath came decidedly unstuck to slip to a second defeat of the National League One season, and a fourth successive loss at Billesley Common.
The day didn’t start well. With Sam Morley reporting sick first thing, and Ed Dunford ultimately not passed fit to take to the field, the Club found themselves shorn of a specialist fly-half.
Add to that a disrupted outward journey, and the omens were as gloomy as the West Midlands skyline, but initially the visitors, with their makeshift backline, did show some promise.
A Josh Smart tackle forced Moseley to go off their feet, and as Archie Smeaton received the short lineout throw, Smart found a gap around the ruck, and Ed Scragg off-loaded to scrum-half Jordan Burns to scamper over, Kyle McGhie, playing out of position on the wing, adding the conversion.
However, it wasn’t long before Blackheath began to lose their way at the breakdown, enabling Moseley’s big pack to dictate the pace and pattern of the game.
A couple of wayward throws might have let the Club off the hook, but with the visitors choosing not to compete on many instances, Mose hooker Ben Pogson was driven over twice, intersected by open-side Morgan Dawes bashing a hole from a similar set-piece for centre Tony Egodo to score.
Gaining ground at every ruck, Moseley moved relentlessly towards the left corner for wing Dan Brough to touchdown for the bonus point try, and at 24-7 ahead at the interval, the Birmingham side looked almost out of sight.
Almost, but not quite. Reading the breakdown better after the re-start, the penalty count was reversed in Blackheath’s favour, and with a temporary one-man advantage, the visitors brought their maul into play, driving Billy Harding across for yet another try for the Club skipper.
Maintaining continuity in the opposition twenty-two, Blackheath sapped enough energy from the Moseley big men to open a gap for Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas who, along with centre-colleague Finn Gilmour, was one the plusses from the visitors’ afternoon, to cross, reducing the arrears to just five points.
However, within moments, the momentum was lost, as an awkwardly bouncing ball was followed by a Moseley turnover, allowing Egodo to slip through some flaky defence for his second try, restoring daylight between the sides.
Blackheath continued to pose a threat with ball in hand, but possession was too frequently lost forward in contact, and to their further frustration, a quickly taken tap-and-go ended in ball held up over the goal-line, potentially sacrificing a losing bonus point, though Mose’s Tommy Taylor’s last-ditch penalty strike would’ve cancelled it.
Blackheath will now need to rouse themselves as they remain on the road with a trip to Berkshire next Saturday to face Rams. Kick off at Old Bath Road is at 3.00 pm.
Birmingham Moseley
Tries: Pogson 9, 24, Egodo 18, 55, Brough 30
Conv: Maxwell-Whitely 18, 24
Pens: Taylor 80
Blackheath
Tries: Burns 6, Harding 50, Hirskyj-Douglas 53
Conv: McGhie 6, 50
Attendance: 880
| 15 | . | Alex Earnshaw |
| 14 | . | Jake Lloyd |
| 13 | . | Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas |
| 12 | . | Finn Gilmour |
| 11 | . | Kyle McGhie |
| 10 | . | Jake Hennessey |
| 9 | . | Jordan Burns |
| 1 | . | Archie Holland |
| 2 | . | Billy Harding (Capt) |
| 3 | . | Rory Marsh |
| 4 | . | Tom Johnson |
| 5 | . | Ed Scragg |
| 6 | . | Josh Smart |
| 7 | . | Noah Sloot |
| 8 | . | Archie Smeaton |
| 16 | . | Archie Bourne |
| 17 | . | James Cornish |
| 18 | . | Andrew Boye |
| 19 | . | Ben Charnock |
| 20 | . | Ed Dunford |
Graham Cox
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