Moseley 22 Henley Hawks 19

The modern parlance for Moseley's current habit is winning ugly. By logical extension, therefore, Saturday's victory over Henley can only be described as hideous.

It contained the worst first-half performance in recent memory - certainly during the tenure of head coach Ian Smith - when the hosts failed to score a single point or inflict any sort of discomfort on what was no more than a competent National Two outfit.

It was a period in which they lost the kicking duel so comprehensively that not once did they come within 20 metres of the opposition line.

Indeed they only produced one scoring opportunity - a 25th minute long-range kick at goal that fly-half Ollie Thomas shoved past the left post.

The whole period was so awful you couldn't even call it forgettable, especially not the calamitous charge-down try they gifted Henley fly-half Barry Reeves on the stroke of half-time.

With Mitch Burton kicking the conversion and a penalty, the visitors were well worth their 10-0 lead. Moseley could not be considered good value for their nought.

Yet it was not a display without merit. Their collective effort after the break was a triumph for mental fortitude over physical competence. They scored 22 points to Henley's nine and scraped the result with a remarkable 55 metre penalty with three minutes to spare. They should be applauded for that.

There were several fine individual displays too. Dean Bick was energetic as ever at hooker and got his customary try, Richard Stott kept his side's lineout ticking over and Neil Mason was a typically abrasive force in the back row. Then there was Thomas' boot.

After his earlier lapse, the talented 22-year-old slotted goals from every angle. Three came in the first eight minutes following the restart, a fourth just after an hour and then what could be the two most important kicks of his team's season.

Once Bick had been smuggled over the line with nine minutes left Thomas landed a delightful conversion from the touchline on his 'wrong side'. Brilliant.

But when Burton restored parity with his fourth penalty shortly afterwards Thomas had to pull another one out. This time, after much discussion with skipper Gareth Taylor, he exacted maximum punishment when Henley No 8 Dave Archer went over the top.

He stood the ball on the halfway line, at a slight angle, and thumped it over with several rotations to spare. It was a kick worthy of winning this match, the Premiership final, the Grand National even.

But it should not mask what was an otherwise palsied performance with ball in hand. He wasn't the only one, though, and director of rugby, John Beale, knew it.

"The performance was very disappointing. We have had three games on the trot where we have played badly for all or part of a match," he said, recalling previous wins at Stourbridge and Redruth.

"At the end of the game our announcer mentioned that we would be entertaining Rotherham next Friday night - it would be bloody entertaining for them if we play like that. The first half was the worst half in two years - certainly at home."

All the noises coming emanating from Billesley hitherto had been very much along the line of 'don't panic - we're still winning'. That might be changing now.

"Our form does bother us," admitted Beale. "We will probably be looking to make one or two changes for the Rotherham game.

"We don't seem to have people who are stepping up to the mark in terms of being able to break the gain line. As a back unit we are not operating properly. Maybe we need to freshen things up."

The National One side come to Birmingham in a Powergen Trophy sixth round tie. Having beaten Pertemps Bees in their last visit to the Midlands and demonstrated a decent level of ability up front it is clear Moseley have to do something. Suddenly that match becomes less an opportunity to test themselves against a higher ranked side and more one to iron out their problems.

"We are obviously trying to win but we have to say if the same team comes out and plays the same way against Rotherham I think we will be on the end of a 40-50 point hammering," said Beale.

"We will still be looking to get through to the next round but more so to make sure we have developed our game sufficiently before we play Halifax, Barking and Launceston before Christmas."

Fixtures that will hopefully produce rather more attractive victories.