Nottingham 21 Moseley 28
While Brown's got his Bounce, Kingsholm clearly has a Kick and Moseley felt its powerful effects as they opened their National One campaign with an impressive victory.
Ian Smith's men received the first dividend of the three-year player and training-sharing arrangement forged with Premiership side Gloucester in the summer, as a trio of dual-registered players imposed their class on proceedings in the East Midlands yesterday afternoon.
England Academy tighthead Jack Forster led a visiting front row that dominated in the scrum, centre Jack Adams was prominent in a heroic defensive effort, while wing Mark Foster capitalised on his two openings with a pair of superbly-taken tries.
Dean Ryan, Gloucester's director of rugby, sat and watched and no doubt felt that Moseley's red-letter opening day contained more than a hint of cherry.
But Smith will not allow all of the credit for his team's hugely-promising success to travel back down the M5; evidence that the club have also been shopping else-where in the off-season came in shirts numbered nine and ten, where James Ireland and Matthew Jones proved quality additions.
Former Wales international Jones became an increasingly influential force on the game while Ireland, returning to his spiritual home after several seasons in the Principality, turned in an outstanding performance.
"We had a Gloucester player in the front row, at centre and on the wing and they have added value. Let's not be disrespectful but the improvements we have made to our own squad in the summer have also proved worthwhile," Smith said.
Indeed, new recruit Nathan Williams was part of that dominant front row and another, Matt Williams, made the break that produced Ireland's debut try after a quarter-of-an-hour.
But, generally, the Birmingham outfit were a victim of their own eagerness in the first half. Most of their number were full of worthy lung-busting individual efforts, yet they needed to subvert their hearts in favour of their heads.
For a side that boasted set-piece dominance, the scrummage was magnificent and their defensive lineout plundered a bountiful supply, they didn't have a lot of ball and when they were in possession, too often they lacked the patience to string phases together or kicked poorly and failed to maximise their opportunities. "There's still a lot to work on," Smith said. "We were making uncharacteristic errors and decisions at times."
Their discipline wasn't all it might have been, according to referee Dale Newitt at least, particularly around the breakdown when they conceded a string of penalties for various infringements.
They began paying for such indiscretions as early as the third minute when Tom Barlow kicked his side 3-0 up after Mose failed to roll away after a tackle on the 22.
Almost instantly, though, they bounced back as Foster did brilliantly well to reclaim the restart and Adams burst into midfield where prop Matt Parr brought him to earth and also failed to move away.
Jones equalised almost nonchalantly. Indeed, his kicking from the floor was every bit as good as Ollie Thomas' had been in recent years.
His distribution was excellent, too. One first-half mis-pass virtually obliged Paul Arnold to slice through the Nottingham defence but, after a year out with injury, he still must answer a few questions about his
game-management. After 11 minutes, Nottingham were back in the lead when Barlow punished his guests for straying offside, only for the momentum to swing once more.
With a scrum 40 metres out, Ireland sent Williams searing away and the full back got to within a couple of steps before being downed. Having ignored Nathan Bressington en route, he managed to pop up for Ireland to flop over for the game's first try. Jones made it 10-6 with an imperious touchline conversion.
Five minutes later, though, Rohaan Nirmalenden broke from his own half and set in motion the well-supported move that led to the hosts crossing for the first time. Lock Sam Raven surged to the posts and that created plenty of room for Dan Montague to sneak over in the left corner. Barlow improved for 13-10.
Jones became isolated just after the half-hour and was forced to hold on, giving the home team another good opening. Barlow punted to the corner and Luke Sherriff was shunted over from the catch and drive. The half ended 18-13 as the Welshman added his second penalty in added time.
The second stanza belonged to Moseley, however, and Foster was the chief beneficiary.
Four minutes after the restart, Ireland stole in at the back of a Nottingham ruck and scooted away down the short side where Arnold gave Foster the sideline and 50 metres. He raced to the flag untouched to tie the match.
Jones made it 21-18 ten minutes later and then, with seven minutes remaining, launched a challenging kick to the right touchline where Nirmalendran and David Jackson collided as they tried to field.
Mose regained possession and Foster had enough room on the opposite wing to jink inside for his second score. Jones' conversion made the win safe and meant Neil Stenhouse's injury-time penalty was worth just a loss bonus.
As impressive as Moseley's victory was, it did not come without cost. James Rodwell, their dynamic No 8, looked to have injured knee ligaments midway through the first period and is almost certain to miss several weeks, at best.
Perhaps Mr Ryan has another ace up his sleeve.
NOTTINGHAM: Nirmalendran; Savage (Jackson, 52), Smith, Molenaar (Sandhu, 75), Dodge; Barlow (Thompson, 40; Stenhouse, 62), Pilgrim; Parr, Duffey, Hopkins, Raven, Rouse, Stannard, Sherriff, Montague. Replacements: Loney, Green, Eccleshaw.
MOSELEY: M Williams; Bressington, Binns, Adams, Foster; Jones, Ireland; N Williams (Buxton, 66), Caves (McMillan, 52), Forster, Arnold, Stott, Uzoigwe, Mason, Rodwell (Evans, 23). Replacements: Bayliss, Hunter, Winter, Lightowler.
Referee: Mr D Newitt (RFU).
