Round 17: Birmingham Moseley v Albion
By A Horse Called Doris
January 23 2025
With quite a narrow window between storms, Birmingham Moseley will be desperate for this weekend's fixture to proceed.
Moseley are currently 7th in the league, immediately below Albion. but 10 points behind, although with two games in hand over Albion. Like Albion they have had spells of good and poor results, but have beaten both Rosslyn Park and Blackheath from the top half of the table. For Albion, this will be the first of three away fixtures on the bounce, as they look to extend their winning run, which currently stands at 4.
Albion have also had the upper hand in the recent fixtures between the sides, having won in the previous four meetings, with the match at Brickfields yielding a 35-15 result, with Moseley collecting 3 yellow cards.
Albion are averaging slightly more tries per game, whilst conceding about the same. Albion's strengths combine with Moseley's weaknesses so if going to form, we should see tries from the front row and the wingers with an added threat from scrum half. Meanwhile Moseley will threaten through the centres. Significantly, there is no individual stand out try scorer amongst the Moseley squad which will make isolating a specific threat difficult.
Albion will need to bring their A game for the full 80 minutes. Caution against complacency is advised as Moseley are more effective in the second half then the first.
Officiating will be Timothy Allatt. Whilst a regular officiating in this League, Albion have yet to appreciate his wisdom this season. He is, however, the second harshest for cards issuing just short of two cards per game. Moseley have already met him early on in the season, when he presented them with two of their yellow cards out of a tally of 11. Moseley have also collected two red cards for foul play, all of which will be noted by the referee.
Player to watch - Thomas Taylor at fly half. This will for decision making rather than scoring prowess.
Weather - Sunny, but cold. A gentle breeze with fresh gusts will blow from the Common along the pitch.
Prediction: A narrow win for Birmingham Moseley with only a losing point for Albion - largely based on away performances to date.
Other games of note:
Dings v Rotherham - Would expect Roth to walk this, but Ding's have a habit of putting out loaded sides for their home games.
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