A Day of two halves!

Anselmians Mavericks 20 – 7 Shotton

A day of two halves!!

Saturday started off with the sun all around, and the referee cutting the grass in the morning.
Tune into the afternoon, and you have a howling gale, rain & freezing temperatures.
Well today’s game was a game of 3 thirds for the Mavericks, dominating from the first whistle, going off the boil & then coming back with avengance. That’s not to say that Shotton were going to roll-over in this fixture, as the Mavericks were to find out.
This game saw the emergence of yet another father/son combination, Graham & Alex Keene playing in the same squad for the first time. And what an influence both had on the game.
The first-half whistle saw the Mavericks accepting the ball & playing with the hill. A gathered kick meant that the Mavericks were on the front foot. A ruck formed 30 metres out, and Captain Tim picked up & went, showing a rare turn of pace. Unstopped by 2 wingers, and a covering no 8, Captain Tim went in to score in the corner after 2 mins, conversion unscored, 5-0.
Great defence, namely by Nev, Dan, Phil, Graham, young Alex, Lee Jones et al, & great clearing up at the back from Del, ensured that the Mavericks maintained pressure on Shotton, forcing turnovers & penalties. But a lot of this was not put to full use. After a break up the wing, the ball found its’ way to Neil Brookes who scampered over the line to increase the Mav’s lead. Conversion missed 10-0 after 13 minutes.
Further pressure ensured that it wasn’t long before Gordon Rogers finished off a great move, extending the Mavericks lead to 15-0 after only 24 minutes.
The game then entered a period of 40 minutes of penalty ping pong, which straddled the half time break, with both sides giving away advantage. As one aging Maverick put it, ‘uncontested scrums & stop start rugby slowed the game down to a manageable speed!’
No side managed to get the upper hand, and so the game entered the final phases. Once again, Neil Brookes managed to get his hands on the ball, skilfully avoiding several tackles & crossing for what most thought would be the last play of the match. 20-0.
But Shotton had other ideas. From the kick off, an ungathered ball, managed to avoid several Mav’s & Shotton gathered to run in under the posts for a well deserved score.
Final whistle 20-7 to the Mavericks.
Great team spirit once again, with all Mavericks stepping up to the plate. Some superb defensive work ensured that the opposition were kept to a minimum of chances to run the ball.
Man of the Match:
For his sniping runs, his pressure on the opposition scrum half & his 2 tries MoM this week is young Neil Brookes. Well deserved, Brookesy!
Thanks to Martin for officiating superbly as always.
Thanks to Shotton for the game, hopefully see you again next season.