Emotional day as Mansfield go top with win over Kesteven to say goodbye to club stalwart in style

With the home team in strong form and boasting a team full of youngsters it was an exciting prospect with the top of the table awaiting for the victor.

However, there was an air of sorrow with the news that a stalwart of the club, John Abbey, affectionately known by his nickname ‘The Reverend Abbey’, passed away on Friday.

A long-time member who fulfilled various positions throughout the club, John was a regular and friendly face for many of the attendees on Saturday.

With the flag flying at half mast, a minute’s silence preceded the game to honour another of the club’s absent friends.

Mansfield started the game with a clear statement.

Within the first five minutes, Zane Chiapetta had caught a chipped ball and found his way to the corner, opening the scoring with the first of what would become a brace for him.

The kick from the touchline was missed but the intent was there.

Kesteven came into this game with a clear game plan.

They had a big set of forwards and a good amount of pace in the backs, it was clear why they’d won their opening four games.

However, despite Mansfield conceding numerous penalties, Kesteven couldn’t get that game plan working.

Even with the penalties allowing them to work their way into the Blue-and-Whites' territory they weren’t gelling and struggle to find that killer touch.

A 5m lineout was lost and, as would become a familiar sight over the afternoon, the ball found its way to Rio Turner who outpaced everyone to score a quite remarkable try from 40m.

The kick was successfully converted by Taran Elms and the visitors had gone from being on the attack to 12-0 down.

This process would continue for much of the half.

Turner was the standout of the match and rightly took home match day sponsor AIPS’ player of the match award.

The home team secured the bonus point before half time by scoring four tries and Turner was responsible for three of them.

It was unfortunate for Kesteven that those tries followed a predictable pattern.

The visitors would get some possession or territory only to lose it and then only watch as Rio left everyone for dead to increase his side’s tally.

The visitors received numerous penalties which they could have turned into points by taking shots at goal.

It would have kept the scoreboard ticking over and kept them within touch.

Instead, they stuck steadfastly to their game plan which saw them leave kickable points unclaimed. To their credit, that plan would see them dominate large portions of the second half.

Kesteven did finally get themselves on the scoreboard but with a missed conversion it left their first half tally at just five.

Let’s not take anything away from the home side, their defence was immense and the pressure they exerted at the breakdown and set piece would have seen any side struggle to create a platform. However, Kesteven should have had more points at the break. With an additional penalty by Elms the half-time score was 27-5

It seemed like all Mansfield had to do was keep the game plan going in the second half and they would be able to build on an excellent first.

However, while they were tenacious in everything they did it wasn’t perfect and discipline was a constant issue.

The visitors were much improved in the second half and scored almost immediately.

This was the start of a large period of play where possession and territory belonged to Kesteven and the blue-and-whites had to repel numerous punishing waves of attacking pressure.

With five minutes gone it was 27-10 and there was still a game to be played.

Turner opened the home team’s scoring with a more close-range effort than his previous three.

With some slick passing in the red zone, he managed to dive his way over the line in the corner to register his fourth of the game.

The visitor’s disciplined defence had left only the slightest gap for Turner to get through. A difficult conversion was missed but Mansfield had extended their lead to 32-10.

Kesteven did get themselves back in to the game with another two trys of their own, one of them converted.

It was a frustrating game for them. Their scrum worked well, they had plenty of punch in attack, their tries were well worked, they punished the Mansfield defence with relentless batterings and the home team did falter at times under the pressure.

But, crucially, the try line just eluded them. They did take a try bonus point with them but they’ll be disappointed not to have taken more.

Mansfield remained dogged and industrious but there was a period where they lacked the lightning on the outside as Turner had left the pitch.

However, they adapted and saw an additional three tries added to the tally.

Chiapetta secured his double with some nifty footwork in the corner, the returning James Ford, a huge presence all game, steered from the back of a maul to gladly drive himself to the line and full back Harry Brough threw a dummy to befuddle the scramble defence and score the final try of the game. One of those three were converted by Elms.

This was perhaps the most complete performance by Mansfield in many weeks.

The youth has had a huge impact and are gelling well.

Kesteven’s first half put them on the back foot but the second half really showed why they’d won their first four games.

With five wins from five the home team now sit on top of the table and have become a difficult team to beat.

Against a backdrop of sadness, this was Mansfield in fine form and he would have been proud of the display.

Mansfield’s next game is at home on 15th October. You can follow the action on Twitter @Mansfieldrugby