Moseley 17

Nottingham 28

Once again Moseley were left clutching at positives rather than points as for the second week running they were complicit in their own downfall.

Just as their struggles in the lineout allowed Bedford to rattle up a half century and a gentle victory at Goldington Road last weekend, this week it was a desire to engage Nottingham in a fire-fight that cost Kevin Maggs's men.

When they ran hard and straight and kept the ball off the deck they caused their guests considerable difficulties.

Indeed it will take some score to better the tenth-minute one finished off by Alex Day as Moseley identified the way through Nottingham lay straight ahead.

However, for the most part they tried to out-flank rather than engage their opponents and as Ian Smith used to say: "You have to earn the right to go wide." Which Moseley didn't.

That tendency cost them as early as the second minute when, having barely touched the ball Nottingham were gifted a seven-point lead.

Mose kicked off, the outstanding Ben Pons stripped possession and gave his side an advanced platform from which they won a penalty for offside.

However, without an iota of advantage they lost the ball and Rhys Crane sent Joe Cobden scampering away from 70m. It was not referee Sean Davey's worst decision of the day but it was still pretty poor.

Day, with the help of Charlie Hayter and Neil Mason, levelled the match soon after and Glyn Hughes landed a penalty on the quarter hour to make it 10-7.

Then, a disorganised kick chase left more dog-legs than Crufts and Cobden took Alex Shaw's pass to cost through again. Two errors, two tries.

"I don't think anyone could argue that we didnt give them their first 17 points," mused Mose winger Simon Hunt.

After that the Moseley scrum, Ethan Waller in particular, got on Davey's wrong side and he awarded a series of penalties that allowed James Arlidge to make it 23-10.

And then the intervention that goes down as comfortably Davey's worst of the afternoon, the red card shown to Anthony Carter for what the referee alleged was an elbow-led high tackle.

Video replays did not bear that out as Carter admittedly tickled Andrew Savages rib-cage but did not go anywhere near his boat race.

Kevin Maggs considered it a wrong decision, captain Mike Powell supported his head coach and even the odd Nottingham player was inclined to agree. Whether Carter used his arms sufficiently to distinguish between a tackle and a shoulder charge might - but only might, be open to debate.

Brent Wilson bagged a third try for Nottingham but then both sides' anxiety to secure a bonus point meant they became a tad frantic.

Nottingham flung the ball around like a buttery hot potato while Moseley worked harder but not smarter as they struggled to make inroads up the hill.

Eventually, with Davey giving a passable rendition of JS Bach's little-known whistle concerto, there was enough disorganisation in the visiting defence for Hunt to barrel over by the posts.

With nearly a quarter-hour remaining there was still time for Moseley to snatch a loss bonus but as we now knew, this was not them at their most accurate.

MOSELEY: Carter; Hunt S, Hunt B (Thomas 53), Hayter, Mogensen; Hughes (Davies 62), Day (Brown 53); Waller, Caves (Wilkes 62), Voisey, Lockley, Powell, Mason, Pons (Robinson 66), Pienaar. Replacements: Mather, Meddick

NOTTINGHAM: Savage; Hough (Jackson 61), Cobden, Munro, Crane; Arlidge, Romans (Barnham 65); Parr (Holford 78), Duffey (Stevens 78), Holford (Bower 65), Montagu (Quinn 78), Rouse, Cooper (Calladine 61), Wilson, Shaw. Replacement: Lynn

Referee: Sean Davey