London Scottish recorded their first away win of the season at a windswept Moseley on Boxing Day. Playing with the wind behind their backs in the first half they raced away to a 23 - 0 lead. They contained the Moseley side in the second half, who had second row Dan Sanderson sent off late in the match. With this win, Scottish moved one place ahead of their hosts to 9th in the league table.
On a bitterly cold wind swept Billesley Common, London Scottish kicked off with the wind directly behind them. In the opening phases of the game Scottish kept the home side hemmed in their 22 metre area and Moseley were penalised for holding on. Fly half Dan Mugford converted to give Scottish an early lead. It was clear from the off that the weather conditions would dictate play. Scottish were awarded another penalty on the 9th minute when the pack stole the first shunt in the scrum, as the Moseley pack were driven back at a great rate of knots collapsing the scrum. The Scottish backs on the 12th minute showed their capabilities when scrum half Simon Amor broke from the base of the scrum and passed to Mugford who broke the line before off loading to centre Ben McDougall. The Scottish backs pressed home their advantage, before knocking on 10 metres short of the try line.
On the 15th minute Scottish scored their first try of the match when following a very good backs move, centre Charles Hayter cut through the Moseley back line. As he closed in on the Moseley full back, Anthony Carter, he off loaded to McDougall who touched down to the left of the posts. Mugford added the extras to put Scottish 10 - 0 ahead. Scottish was now totally dominating the opening quarter of the match and a penalty against Scottish at the ruck allowed Moseley to relieve the pressure and tempo being exerted by the away side. On the 25th minute the Moseley flanker Neil Mason was penalised for going round the side of the ruck offside, kicking the ball out of the rear of the ruck. Mugford converted from 5 metres just inside the Moseley half.
Scottish increased their lead on the half hour mark when the home side conceded a penalty at the ruck on their 22 metre line immediately in front of the posts. Mugford converted. The Moseley cause was further dented when their number eight, Chevvy Pennycock, was yellow carded for attempting to kick Amor at a ruck, and was dispatched to spend the next ten minutes watching from the sidelines. Just before the half time break, Scottish produced a scintillating phase of play through their backs, with the ball being passed through hands out to winger Agustin Gosio on the right flank. The ball was then driven forward by the pack in a series of rolling mauls. Scottish was awarded a scrum 5 metres short of the Moseley line and to the right of the posts. Moseley were penalised at the scrum and Scottish opted for a re-set scrum. The Scottish scrum drove their opposite pack back, with number eight Willie Lipp picking up at the base of the scrum and being driven over by his fellow forwards. Mugford converted to put Scottish in a commanding position at the half time break, 23 points ahead.
Scottish came out for the second half in the face of a driving gale force wind, with rain just adding to the difficult weather conditions. Moseley opened their account on the 43rd minute when they were awarded a penalty on the Scottish 10 metre line after the assistant referee flagged for a late challenge, with the referee awarding the penalty conversion attempt from where the ball had landed from the up and under kick. Fly half Brad Davies converted. Scottish then took play into the Moseley 22 metre area and the home side were penalised for coming in at the side of the ruck. Mugford converted. On 45 minutes Scottish conceded another penalty for not rolling away at the ruck, 10 metres outside their 22 metre area in the middle of the pitch. Davies reduced the arrears. Shortly later Scottish conceded a further penalty with Davies converting his third penalty of the match.
Scottish had another opportunity to add to their tally on the 52nd minute when Moseley were penalised for not releasing the tackled player. Mugford however, pulled his kick as the strong head wind pushed the ball to the right of the posts. A few minutes later the Moseley flanker Neil Mason was yellow carded for deliberately killing the ball to slow play down as Scottish were attacking in the home sides 22 metre area. Mugford converted to put Scottish 9 - 29 ahead. On the hour mark Scottish hooker Tom Stansfield was the latest player to spend 10 minutes on the sidelines after he was yellow carded. Moseley scored their only try of the match when their forwards drove deep into the Scottish 22 metre. From a series of rolling mauls the Moseley Namibian international replacement scrum half Ryan De La Harpe dived over close to the Scottish posts. Davies converted to leave the score line 16 - 29.
Moseley began to sense that they could gain a losing bonus point and began to throw the kitchen sink at the Scottish defence, which to its credit held firm for the remainder of the match. In a move close to the end of the game Moseley were awarded a penalty as they were pressing across the width of the pitch; however the assistant referee signalled for foul play. After a period of consultation between the match officials, the Moseley second row Dan Sanderson was shown a straight red card for striking an opponent. The game ended shortly later with Scottish deservedly gaining their first away win of the season.
With Scottish recording their first back to back victories of the season, they moved a point ahead of their hosts in the league table in 9th position. With wins in the regular season counting towards the play offs, the club now have 4 points ahead of the play offs, with more opportunities remaining. The backs look to have clearly benefited from their coaching sessions with the Scotland national backs coach Gregor Townsend and their play yesterday was of the highest quality, complementing another immense performance by the pack. The team will now re-group ahead of their Ne'er's Day fixture away at Leeds Carnegie, which will no doubt be another very tough challenge at the home of the former Premiership outfit in Headingley. Look out for the match preview later in the week.
Simon Elliott selected Dan Mugford as the away supporters Man of the Match.