Wallasey win in the cup

Well good morning everyone, and I'm sure we've not seen a match report completed so soon after a game before, but I wanted to ensure my carefully considered words were fresh in my mind in order for me to express the feelings that I have after yesterday's performance.
We arrived a Cross Lane feeling confident and looking forward to a good competitive match against a team we had beaten the week before 65 points to 7. We expected to face a team with alterations from the previous week , but what we ended up facing was a totally different prospect all together.
Firstly , may I say that the better team won on the day. Wallasey were stronger, fitter and in the most better drilled than The Mavericks . The Wallasey team that started the afternoon were a welcome challenge that The Mavericks appreciated. Beating a team by 65 points is ok, but is not something we gain any satisfaction from, however we quickly realised that we were facing a stiffer proposition than last week. An exciting game was on the cards. We were facing a completely different team from last week with only two of the same players opposing.
The game kicked off in a howling gale , with Anselmians in receipt of the ball from the kick off. From this point on the game to and fro-ed between halves with no one having clear advantage until the Wallasey fly half broke the cover defence to go over the white wash and then convert his own try making it 7-0 to Wallasey . That's the way it stayed until 20 minutes in when The Mavericks secured possession passed the ball out along the line , Lee Jones took it at outside centre and started off on one of his trademark strong , dynamic runs followed rapidly by a chasing group of four Wallasey players . Lee went down under a pile of bodies , which is where he stayed, sustaining a serious leg injury which was later identified as a broken Fibula. As a result of the seriousness of the injury play was stopped and medical support summonsed. Players from both sides then left the field for about half an hour whilst the ambulance staff did their thing.
It is from this point on that what started out as a good competitive game of rugby changed into what became a farce by the end of the game.
Initially things looked promising as Neil Brookes took a quick tap penalty and bustled his way over the line taking what seemed to be most of the Wallasey pack with him to score . Unfortunately we were unable to convert and the score remained at 7-5.
Due to the delay in proceedings and the late kick off it was at this stage that we noticed what was the start of an ever increasing disparity in the Wallasey team, as the first of what proved to ten substitutions took place, as gradually one by one the Wallasey team changed from the team that had started the day to the team that was playing on the opposite first team pitch. It was evident that Wallasey were unable or unwilling to rely on the players who started the 'second' team game to finish it and as a result found it necessary to bring on the first team players squad.
As a captain I would have been unable to take any satisfaction in knowing that a first team had beaten a third team, nor as a club should Wallasey be able to take pride in this fact. I am the first to accept that the better team won on this day and my comments should in no way be a reflection on my inability to accept defeat , however when a team feels it necessary to behave in this way then it reflects badly on the club as a whole.
'Suck it up' , 'be a man' I hear you shout ......... Well, That's exactly what The Mavericks did, we took the impacts , we took the beatings , we took being run over by stronger and fitter players and every man on that pitch wearing the blue,white and gold stood his ground . Benno and Ross took hit after hit and also dished it out, and both players became adults yesterday , they can both hold their heads high today and their parents should be rightly proud of their performance.
The reason I mentioned those players individually highlights my objection to teams fielding ringers at our level of rugby.
The Mavericks serve a valuable purpose at this level, we provide an opportunity for the senior members to play rugby at a level they enjoy, we also provide opportunities for new young players to break into senior rugby. What we do not expect is to play first team opposition and expose the senior members of the team and very young players to unwarranted risk of injury. That's exactly what happened yesterday , Approximately half way through the second half , with Wallasey in the lead we lost three players, Scotty and Dom to injury and Andy who had to leave by a certain time. With Lee already in hospital , things were looking desperate. We managed to switch the playing strength round, put a back row into prop, drop a back row player and play with 13 . After performing like this for 15 minutes with thirteen players, Wallasey eventually decided to do the 'sporting thing' and lend us a player from the ever increasing ranks of substitutes. We were now playing with 14 for the remainder of the game. Which , if you follow the strict rules of the game is what the law says 14 v 15. Fair !!!!!
My mind then rewinds seven days Wallasey turn up at Malone field with 13 players , we immediately give them two of our players leaving us with one substitute as opposed to three. This is to allow for a fair game........
As the skipper of The Mavericks I will always follow this principle, it is the fairness of the game that makes the game. Win , lose or draw if we play fair , and in the spirit of the game then we can be held to account for our actions. This did not happen yesterday , this was an unfair competition played outside this principle and despite Anselmians not having a first team game we did not use ringers, the same players who played last week were on the pitch this week.
The Wallasey captain should take no satisfaction in the result yesterday, of course the better team won, and these comments are not sour grapes, just a voicing of genuine concern at a game played in the wrong spirit.
I welcome your comments on this post please fellow Mavericks and look forward to hearing your opinion.

Thanks,

Tim Woodward
Skipper
Anselmian Mavericks