RFU Championship: Doncaster Knights 29 Moseley 21

The problem with the RFU Championship in its current structure, or at least one of the manifold problems, is that the relatively short regular season leaves very little margin for error.

Even with the 2011-12 campaign at this embryonic stage the sense of time and games ticking by is palpable. Even now, just three matches in, it feels as though Moseley's search for their first victory under Kevin Maggs is becoming a pressing issue.

Moseley have already played three of their first tranche of 22 games and elsewhere around the league the scramble to make the top eight has already begun in earnest.

Only Moseley and Esher are yet to register a victory which makes next Saturday's meeting between the two sides perhaps more important than your average round four encounter should be.

That's certainly the vibe coming from the Mose squad, which for the second week running was left disappointed by a failure to pick up a even single point.

It should be said the situation is way short of desperate, just increasingly urgent and full back Anthony Carter knows it is time to prove that the pre-season promise following a summer of regime change, is more than hot air.

" There isno doubt about it we are a better squad," the Welshman said. "I have got full confidencein every lad either side of me, whoever pulls the shirt on in the27-man squad."We are ina better position than we were last year as far as squad but we arethe only ones who can show that and we need to start doing that on aSaturday.

"It's allwell and good training well but Saturday is the thing that counts."

And for the first 40 minutes at Castle Park there was a collective inability to grasp that fact. Perhaps relieved to have got through their first two challenging matches, Moseley couldn't emulate the commitment and passion of those encounters with Cornish Pirates and Nottingham.

As a result they allowed Doncaster, led by Tom Luke their makeshift fly half, to dictate proceedings and open a 22-0 lead that was always going to be very difficult to overhaul.

In the end Moseley had a reasonably good go and after Ben Pons had ended the first half by leading the Doncaster defence a merry dance, they dominated the second period.

And had referee Steve Lee not ruled out Greg King's try for crossing and stuck to an apparent Moseley advantage when Ollie Goss intercepted Jack Adams, it might have been different.

But in truth they were always going to be made to pay for their lackadaisical start. It is something Carter says Moseley must avoid in future.

"We havegot enough experience in the team to know that and we need to learnthat lesson now and take it forward," he claims.

"Aftertoday we will be positive, we will take it forward, it's a greatgroup of lads, I have no doubt we will learn from this and improve."  And no better time to do it than against Esher next weekend.

DONCASTER:McIlwaine; Flockhart, Goss, Gidlow (Whitehead 62), Keating; Luke,Hallam; Corsar (Brown 62), Boden (Yeandle 62 (Toft 79)), Brown(Burke-Flynn 70), Kenworthy, Parsons, Challinor, Bradford (Kettle55), Boyde. Replacement: Audis

MOSELEY:Carter; Robinson, Adams (Reay 58), King, Hunt (Thomas 72); Davies,Brown (Glynn 63); Voisey (Gadd 49), Protherough (Quigley 49),ODonnell, Sanderson, Spivey, Maltman, Pons (Mason 49), Ellery(Stott 63).

Referee: Steve Lee