Mavericks march on

Mavericks 40 - 21 Mold

A scratch side makes good use of talent….
The Mavericks welcomed Mold to Malone Field for the fifth time this season, and came away victors again.
The usual abundance of players was somewhat dwindled with injuries & unavailability, meaning that the Mavericks could only muster 16 players. With the usual familiar faces & others who want to be associated with the infamous Mavericks, they took to the field. To a man they battled hard! The young guns fired on all cylinders, the old guns gave them the ammunition.
To say that the conditions were awful is an understatement. But it was that in the absence of usual Captain Tim, Captain Phil McGonigall called for a tight game, and the forwards duly responded. Ball up the jumper time! Excellent tackling by forwards Les Wildman, Mike Potter, Craig & Neil Brookes ensured that the Mavericks stayed in charge.
Early in the first half, the Mavericks kept play tight, with good support from the forwards. Plenty of rucks won, the ball was moved up field & given to the backs. A neat passage of play saw the ball go out to centre Andy Smith to cross the line & touch down under the posts, conversion scored 7-0.
And so the Mavericks dominated for the next 30 minutes. Mold threatened the Mavericks line on several occasions, but the Mavericks defence held strong, with some superb tackling from the backs. The forwards kept possession at the set piece. Luke Williams, playing at No 8 controlled things at the base of the scrum, linking well with young Jack Woolley at scrum half.
Then a break out saw the ball passed to Andy Smith in the centres, who uncharacteristically, passed it onto Jack Woolley to run in and score the 2nd try. 14-0 half time.
The second half started with Mold downhill, and with the bit between their teeth. Two very quick scores saw Mold even at 14-14. Then some uncharacteristic missed tackles allowed Mold to take the lead, 50 minutes gone 14-21 to Mold!
This only sevred to awaken the Mavericks to action. From the kick off, the Mavericks put pressure on Mold. Superb tackling & rucking led to a turnover, which in turn gave the ball out to the backs. Some hard running from the backs led to a ruck, forwards pressure ensured possession, and Andy Smith popped the ball off to Les Wildman to run in and score.
The next try for the Mavericks was (cue the Benny Hill music) a bit of a ‘Benny Hill’ affair. Close to the Mold line, Mavericks secured good ball, and from it, Andy Smith gave the ball to Matt Moscrop who ran in to score, only to take the long way round dodging two other unnecessary players, almost not grounding the ball, but eventually scoring after avoiding as many players as he could.
Due to a rib injury to veteran hooker Steve Williams, the Mavericks went down to 14 men for the last 10 minutes, but this did not detract from their performance.
The team pulled ranks, ensuring that possession stayed with the Mavericks. Some great pressure from the Mavericks in Mold’s half led to good rucking by the forwards & backs & the ball being passed out to super-sub/ referee Damian Mcdonald to score.
With minutes to go, Jack Williams (Helmut to his mates) went over to score, leaving the score-line at 40-21 to the Mavericks at full time.
Man of the Match: Andy Smith for his outstanding tackling , passing & handling.
Thanks to Mold for the fixture, and good luck for the rest of the season.
Thanks to Conal Scholes for officiating so well.
Thanks to all the Mavericks, young & old, for sticking to your task so manfully.