Moseley 32 Sedgley Park 25
In many ways this was a day to cherish for Moseley. They brought an end to their dismal run of five successive defeats, welcomed winger James Aston back into the first team after a nine-month absence and edged their way up the table after leap-frogging London Welsh.
Yet for long periods Moseley looked ill-equipped for life in National One, allowing their visitors, the bottom team and without a win to their name all season, to cruise into a 22-0 lead after only half an hour.
Sedgley Park may have had the benefit of a gale force wind at their backs before the interval but there was no need for their hosts to add to their discomfort by continually kicking the ball rather than keep it in their grasp.
Tries by Andrew Craig, Phil Jones and Chris Wilkinson saw Moseley swept aside, the excellent Jones adding a pair of conversions and a penalty.
Endless missed tackles and a scrummage perpetually on the back foot did not augur well for the home side as the visitors looked to finish off the task before half time.
But the match turned when Sedgley Park hooker Marks Jones collected a yellow card on 33 minutes, resulting in him joining Moseley's Paul Cox in the sin bin.
When skipper Daren O'Leary ran in from 40 metres just moments before the break, it was a welcome boost for the Billesley Common side.
"It was crucial to score when we did just before half time," Ian Smith, the Moseley coach, said. "It has happened to us quite a bit when we have played better teams, conceding points in that crucial period. That score was invaluable but we still had a lot of work to do.
"There was a fair bit of frustration in the first half. Although we took the right options, the application was poor. We gave them far too much ball against the wind when we needed to keep hold of it.
"A few stern words were said at half time although the players already knew what they had to do."
But the half-time rollicking seemed to do the trick and Moseley attacked straight from the whistle, taking only two minutes to bag a second try through Jim Rodwell.
They were helped as the visitors were reduced to 14 men with Craig's yellow card for a dangerous tackle before replacement lock Ed Norris was sent off on the hour for dangerous play in the line-out.
A converted Carl Colvin try levelled the scores but it was Cox who crashed over for the fourth bonus-bagging score a minute from time. Sedgley's hopes for dashed once and for all by Ollie Thomas who not only kicked the conversion but then added an injury-time drop goal.
Smith added: "This is a tough league but any team can beat any other team on their day — we just have to make sure we get enough of those days.
"We have not been far away. A lot of people in the summer thought we were going to find in very, very tough, at least until Christmas.
"But I think what has happened is that we have gone out and performed and learnt a little bit quicker than we thought."
