Moseley 16

London Welsh 41

By the time he left Billesley Common on Saturday evening Kevin Maggs must have had enough Welsh triumphalism to last a lifetime.

The former Ireland centre's day began with a 6am appointment in front of the television and his country's Rugby World Cup quarter final.

Few, if any, of Maggs' 70 appearances could have been as sickeningly anti-climactic as this morning, when a new chapter beckoned only for the history books to snap shut.

Never mind, there was still the chance to redeem some personal pride by guiding his Moseley team to an upset against Lyn Jones' London Welsh.

But just as with Ireland, Moseley failed to recover from a poor start and slumped to a 41-16 hammering, even more emphatic than inflicted on Maggs' ex-team-mates.

To be fair, in financial terms Moseley and London Welsh are separated by more than a mere Irish Sea.Maggs' playing budget is less than a quarter of that of the swanky Richmondites and a glance at their respective benches told that.

While Welsh head coach Jones could afford to leave two internationals for later, Gordon Ross and Vili Maasi, Maggs had Steve Smith and Charley Thomas among his options.

Both can be encouraged by the start they made to their Moseley careers but with Bournville and Moseley Oak on their CVs they have some way to travel before they reach the highest level.

All of which meant it was absolutely vital the Reds, their new, hoopless strip means they can no longer be described accurately as the red and blacks, made a positive start.

For the record five penalties in ten minutes, a yellow card in 12 and ten points down in even time does not constitute a positive start.

It got worse, for once again this was lackadaisical, lets dig ourselves into a hole Moseley and they ended the opening period 24-6 down.

They managed a response of sorts after the turnaround and there were some positives but by the end Welsh were left to celebrate their gala day with a six-try romp.

Not what Maggs hoped for. He will, however, be encouraged by the crystallisation of a decent centre-partnership between free-scoring Andy Reay and Greg King.

The former is more direct than he used to be while the latter loves a big hit. Sometimes he even uses his arms.

Chevvy Pennycook was also a welcome returnee and despite four months without any rugby put in a performance that should have one or two of his team-mates nervously avoiding his gaze.

Not Neil Mason, though. It appears stories of the blindside's demise were a tad premature. After a lacklustre season last term he is back to his barnstorming best and leading by example.

However, many others dont share Mason's relish for physical confrontation but they need to start otherwise a third consecutive bottom four finish looms and meetings with London Welsh might become a thing of the past.

MOSELEY: Carter; Adams, King, Reay, Robinson; Davies B (Thomas O 57), Glynn (Brown 57); Warren (Voisey 40), Caves (Gadd 73), ODonnell (Quigley 40), Stott (Smith 74), Spivey, Mason, Maltman, Pennycook (Thomas C 74)

WELSH: Thrower (Mackey 62), Hurrell, Tongauhia (Ross 77), Jewell, Ajuwa; Davies, Lewis (Stevenson 70); Roan, George (Maasi 72), Bateman (Moss 62), Powell (Johnson 62), Corker, Mills, Hills, Jackson (Russell 62)

Referee: Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts