The Stags lost a game at Seghill on Saturday that should have been over inside the first 15 minutes. The Morpeth side started the game with a purpose rarely seen so far this season and played some excellent stuff without actually getting onto the scoreboard. Butchering a number of early opportunities would come back to haunt the visitors later.

Cox was bundled into touch just short, then was pulled back for a forward pass after a fantastic line taken by Higgy. The Stags were supporting and offloading superbly and Seghill had no answer to this fluent approach. Helped by the referee who pinged the visitors unmercifully for offside, hands in, in at the side, not rolling away, listening to 70’s heavy metal and having too much fun, Seghill worked their way up the pitch and grabbed a lead they hardly deserved with a penalty for 0-3.

The Stags responded with a quickly taken penalty which released Bear on a typically bullocking run. When he slipped trying to step the last man, the ball was quickly recycled and Cowans blasted over in the corner for a try that Cox could not improve. It was the Try Bandit who grabbed the second of the day when confident handling from Owens at 10 created some space for the winger. The home cover looked to have the edge but once again Cox swayed inside with the minimum of movement but the maximum effect. At times he makes try scoring look ridiculously easy. The same player was short with his conversion attempt. The remainder of the half was punctuated by injuries to Rutherford and his replacement, Parsons, which may give the management a front row selection dilemma ahead of the vital league clash with Novos next weekend.

The impressive Dobson went off at half time and the game changed in the second half. With the ball, the Stags were unable to get on the front foot as regularly, whilst some of the handling and fly hacking was simply not good enough. Seghill’s youthful back line came into the game and ran in two good scores by virtue of their extra gas. Their final score came from a turbo charged prop who flew down the flank, putting them ahead at 22-10. Dobson returned to the fray and used his power to crash over. The same player nearly added another and with the final play of the game, Cox was denied a second by an adjudged forward pass.

The Stags quite rightly identified the spate of penalty decisions as being central to the momentum they had built being halted. The players simply have to become cuter at playing the ref. Dobson had an excellent game for the Stags, as did Bear, but MoM went to Oxley. He ran elusively from the back and was solid in defence, with one mark taken at full stretch simply majestic. In the absence of Crawford, his kicking from hand was also immaculate.