Among a myriad of half chances, Jackson obeyed the classic striker's creed with
head down, eye on the ball and calm, firm contact to score, as Mosgiel keeper Liam Whittaker flew in on him at breakneck speed.
Even the timing of Jackson's goal was psychologically crippling, only minutes before halftime, sending the visiting team trudging away at the break to listen to Mosgiel coach Andrew Brook's modified team talk.
Vinegar in Mosgiel's wound was that two consecutive headers might have produced an equaliser almost immediately after Caversham's goal.
The second, from Cameron McPhail, hit the crossbar of a goalmouth yawning wide open.
Yet it was Caversham that started best, applying early pressure with Andrew Ridden, Jared Grove and Sam Collier pinning the visitors on their back foot.
Mosgiel battled back into the game.
Harley Rodeka, Regan Coldicott and Conner Neill looked lively, as the blue midfield generated passes forward with diagonal passes that unbalanced Caversham.
There were lots of personal battles all over the park, as young Neill threatened experienced Caversham fullback Craig Ferguson with dashing pace, and Seamus Ryder found space wide and delivered a series of crosses into Mosgiel's goalmouth.
Both sides had their periods of dominance, and the second half produced high-speed if ragged football, with final passes going astray and neither keeper being seriously tested.
Possibly the Plainsmen were unlucky when a rejuvenated attack, led by Chilean Eder Franchini, who came on with 15 minutes to go, attacked up the left, and finished with a tantalising shot-cross that beat everyone, floating past keeper Liam Little and scraping the far post junction.
Caversham coach Tim Horner admittedit had been quite a battle, and he was happy with his team's spirit and skill.
‘‘Both sides sort of neutralised each other eventually, so we were thankful for our goal, and the three points.''
The coach praised centre back Michael Hogan who replaced the injured Ben Fitzpatrick, and hardly put a foot wrong, with enthusiastic support from Sam Cosgrave.
Andrew Brook, the Mosgiel coach, was clearly disappointed, especially after his side had created two gold-plated opportunities which might at least have squared the match, similar to last year when the same fixture finished 2-2.
Elsewhere, Northern entertained with a high-scoring 4-4 draw with University, at Forrester Park after a 2-2 scoreline at the break.
At Tahuna, Dunedin Technical beat the young Green Island side 4-1.