Moseley were greeted by the news they were to play on the main pitch against Shelford and the following performance was inspired. The previous game against Shelford was a close 22-15 loss, with Shelford starting excellently in the first 15 minutes so Moseley were determined not to let that happen again.

Moseley started really strongly, with a number of attacks being cut short by excellent covering tackles or the final ball not going to hand. Shelford almost scored but a try saving tackle by Susan James held them out. An excellent scrum on the Moseley five metre line turned the ball over and enabled Moseley to clear their lines.

Moseley kept the momentum going and with 19 minutes on the clock the pressure paid off with Susan James dancing through the defence to score, conversion by Caz Goodman. Three minutes later excellent hands by forwards and backs unleashed Emma Shields up the wing to outsprint the defence and score, again converted by Caz.

The Moseley forwards continued to ruck well, with Michelle Gwynne and Steph Warner turning over lots of balls in the contact area. Caz Goodman took advantage of this platform to side step her way through the the defence and cross the line for a well deserved try. After a Shelford infringement Emily Dove reacted well with a quick tap penalty to run from the half way to score. Again Caz slotted the conversion.

Just before half time Shelford hit back with a try from their winger. Moseley responded by going straight up the other end of the pitch. Ashleigh Aiston had her hair pulled on the way to scoring, before Emma finished off the half with another try, again converted by Caz.

Half time Moseley 36 - 5 Shelford

After last weeks switch off by Moseley the team were convinced they should not take the foot off the gas. The tackling from Laura Redhead, Susan Mabbett, Olly Gough and Boe Meaton stopped every Shelford attack and pushed them backwards. Kerianne Meadowcroft made a bone crunching tackle on the Shelford flanker to set up yet another turn over.

Shelford were first to score in the second half with their centre sidestepping her way to the line to score and convert.

Hannah Bussey controlled the game really well at fly half, with the 10/12 partnership between her and Caz Goodman working really effectively. Moseley made some changes with Nicola Sykes and Sam Voyle coming on. Both made immediate impacts in attack with good hands releasing Nicola Sykes to swerve her way around almost every Shelford player to score. She then made another swerving run, unselfishly offloading to Emma Shields to finish her hat trick, Nicola converting.

Moseley then brought on Laura Ayling and Amanda Stringfellow, who unfortunately had to succumb to an old knee injury, but the strong Moseley bench enabled Michelle Finch to come on and finish the game strongly.

Moseley continued to attack with good hands leading to Clare Bowyer taking the ball on the wing but doing really well to stay in and offload from the tackle. The penalty from the resulting ruck let Michelle Gwynne swat the Shelford defence out of the way and crash over the line to complete the scoring.

This was the best performance from Moseley this season by far. The tackling was immense, with a physical Shelford side unable to live with the physicality of Moseley. The turnovers in the rucks and mauls provided Moseley with the ball they needed to try new things and exploit the gaps in defence. The hands from both forwards and backs gave quick ball out wide to utilise the speed from wingers and fullback and the control in the centre meant there was a calm confidence throughout the side.

Man of the match could quite easily have gone to any of the 20 players on the pitch, a very pleasing problem to have and will make selection very tough for the next game at home to Olney on Sunday 8 December.