Moseley 38 Nottingham 32

Whatever the outcome of Moseley's battle against relegation this match was one for the scrapbook.

A day when Billesley Common basked in spring sunshine and when its occupants frolicked around the open spaces they created seemingly at will.

It will also be remembered as the afternoon Ollie Thomas broke the club record for points in a single game - their ebullient young full back finished with 28 in all and looked every inch a creative force worthy of National One.

His two tries, four penalties and three conversions surpassed the mark of 27 set by Simon Hodgkinson against London Irish 12 years ago. His was a very fine performance in a wider context of an excellent team display.

Thomas claimed all but ten of his side's total but while the process of kicking the ball between the posts was all his own work - which he did with seven of his nine attempts, he was given the opportunity to do so by an excellent effort from his pack and some incisive running and passing by his colleagues in the threequarters.

The win, just their third maximum haul of the campaign, lifted them out of the relegation and made them masters of their own destiny.

With the ground hard under their feet and confidence coursing through their veins Moseley have nothing to fear from the visit of London Welsh in a fortnight or the trip to Waterloo on the last day.

And that's not so much because relegation rivals Otley succumbed at home to Leeds Tykes, the Cross Green outfit were always likely to lose that particular Yorkshire derby, but due to the fluid nature of their own offering.

For the first time in many months Moseley looked a team at ease with itself or, as Thomas put it, a team that knew victory was the only option.

"When we do our pre-match analysis it's all about performance and individual targets but today was all about winning," he said.

"We still needed to concentrate on the component parts of our game but the result was what counted.

"What happened out there was pure passion, guts and determination. We allowed them to make it close at the end but all in all it was a quality performance.

"But I don't think it was that much different to what we have done all season, things just clicked a bit more." Thomas is as good with an understatement as he is with a routine conversion.

He has the sort of can-do attitude that sometimes gets him into trouble, as it did on a couple of occasions on Saturday when he opted to try and trick his way from the shadow of his posts.

But it will also stand Moseley in good stead to hear the player on whom they rely for the bulk of their scoring, suggest he takes pleasure from situations such as this.

"Obviously I would rather be playing at the other end of the table but I quite enjoy these relegation battles," Thomas said.

"We had one when we were just starting out too - hopefully this one will have a different outcome.

"There's something riding on every game. Week in, week out there's an added edge. We have got two games left and if we win one of them I reckon we'll be alright, especially if we continue to get the ball on the front foot."

Which is exactly what happened here. Tommy Hayes' distribution was topnotch and for once completely in timing with his runners as they swept from deep and took possession at full pace on countless occasions.

While Thomas was the main beneficiary, scorching into the line at outside centre, Nathan Bressington was

clearly revelling in a supply of unusually quick ball.

Not only did the wing set up Andy Binns for Moseley's first try, which cut the visitors' 8-0 lead, he sliced through midfield for their third just before half time, scored and converted by Thomas.

That gave the hosts a 22-11 advantage at the interval, as James Rodwell

had also found his way over the line. They continued in a similar fashion after the break when Bressington did supremely well to reclaim Hayes' blocked grubber kick and with Binns ripped the Nottingham defence asunder.

Thomas floated on to another Hayes miss-pass and went over by the sticks. His conversion made it 29-11. He then cancelled out Luke Sherriff's 64th minute surge with three penalties to give his side a 38-11 lead with ten on the clock.

But Moseley are a side unaccustomed to closing out games in the First Division. Somehow it was written in the stars that they would allow Nottingham to inch their way back into the match.

There are two ways to close down a game, continue playing the way that has been successful or pin your opponents back into their territory. Moseley did neither, instead they resorted to the sort of sacrificial kicking that had got them in trouble at the start of the afternoon.

Joe Duffey barrelled his way over from a close-range penalty and then full back Rohan Nirmalandran slipped through seven minutes into added time.

Barlow's conversion was mercifully the last act and inasmuch could not dampen the relief that made this such a memorable day.

MOSELEY: Thomas; Bressington, Binns, Reay, Winter; Hayes, Knight; Buxton, Caves, Moran (Bayliss 57), Arnold, Stott, Mason, Bignell (Lightowler 75), Rodwell (Hunter 79). Replacements not used: Coles, Bick, Skelding, Macdonald NOTTINGHAM: Nirmalandran; Savage (Thompson 40), Dodge, Molenaar, Jackson (Kay 48); Barlow, Springall (Sten-house 58); Parr (Hopkins 31), Duffey (Loney 48 (Duffey 68)), Hall, Raven (Morley 48), Rouse, Stannard, Sherriff, Montagu (Wilkes 65)

Referee: Mr T Wigglesworth (RFU) ..SUPL: