Moseley started the brighter, working their way into a position for Caolan Ryan to have the first shot at goal with four minutes on the clock. The fly half’s attempt was ambitious, some 45 metres out, but there was plenty of distance on the kick before it drifted wide.
Still, Moseley’s opening points were somewhat fortuitous. Saints won a throw against the head and quickly worked an overlap. Had Michael Penn missed his interception attempt the hosts would have been away up the right wing. But instead he came away with the ball and was over for the game’s first try.
It took five minutes for Saints to reply, and it was a peach. Forwards and backs combined superbly, and smart hands from Ethan Waller and Jordan Onojaife helped put Josh Skelcey over in the corner.
Similar handling skills created the second try, seven minutes later. Cam Dolan came off the back of a scrum 10 metres out, and Alex Day timed his pass superbly to put James Wilson over.
They may have conceded two tries in relatively quick succession, but Moseley did not let their heads drop. Ryan missed a second shot at goal a minute into the second quarter, and seven minutes after that Moseley’s pack showed why their playmaker should have been kicking to touch sooner as they drove Tom Warren over in the corner.
But as the half wore on Saints’ greater conditioning began to show, and increasing pressure was rewarded when Alex Day tapped a penalty quickly to dive over from five metres out.
Will Hooley continued his good form from the tee from the afternoon’s first game, landing three from three to take the half-time score to Saints 21, Moseley 12.
Just as they had done in the first half Moseley crossed for the first points of the second, Adam Caves coming up from the back of a maul.
Moseley’s third try may have been similar to their first, but so was the Saints’, Sam Olver sending a long pass to give the space to Howard Packman to sidestep the last defender and score.
Still the red and blacks kept on coming and keeping it tight, another powerful maul bringing a try for Ed Siggery.
However, as it had in the first half, the latter stages of the second saw the Saints’ full-time training pay off, with Skelcey leaving two defenders in his wake in one powerful burst and Olver going past two more on his way to the whitewash.
Packman crossed for a second try six minutes from time, and while Moseley finished on the front foot the game was long gone.
TEAMS
SAINTS Wilson; Skelcey, Hutchinson, Hooley, Packman; Olver, A Day; E Waller, Marshall, Denman, Onojaife, Woolford (capt), Conner, Harrison, Dolan
Reps – McMillan, Hobbs-Awoyemi, Parkins, Foster, Kendall, Robinson, Taylor-Dawes, Marshall
MOSELEY Carter; Cheshire, Armstrong, Owen, Penn; Ryan, Brazier; Warren, Tolmie, Voisey, Powell, Charlton, Hone, Carpenter, Mason
Reps – Thorp, Caves, Gardiner, Dacres, Siggery, O Thomas, Roach, C Thomas, Lea
SCORERS
SAINTS Tries – Skelcey, Wilson, A Day, Packman (2), Olver; Cons – Hooley (3), Hutchinson (3)
MOSELEY Tries – Penn, Warren, Siggery, Caves; Cons – Ryan (2)
TIMELINE
4mins MOSE Miss pen Ryan
6mins MOSE Try Penn Con Ryan 0-7
11mins SAINTS Try Skelcey Con Hooley 7-7
18mins SAINTS Try Wilson Con Hooley 14-7
21mins MOSE Miss pen Ryan
28mins MOSE Try Warren 14-12
38mins SAINTS Try A Day Con Hooley 21-12
HALF-TIME SAINTS 21 MOSELEY 12
46mins MOSE Try Caves Con Ryan 21-19
56mins SAINTS Try Packman Con Hutchinson 28-19
62mins MOSE Try Siggery 28-24
65mins SAINTS Try Olver Con Hutchinson 35-24
74mins SAINTS Try Packman Con Hutchinson 42-24
FULL-TIME SAINTS 42 MOSELEY 24