Upholding Traditions

Anselmian Mavericks v Mold

On a typically too warm for rugby kind a day at Eastham our friends from Mold rocked up to honour our now traditional pre season friendly. Both teams had twenty players with them with a good mix of youth and experience across the board. The Mavericks contained many stalwarts and welcomed some new and returning players to the ranks. Special mention must go to welcoming back Harry Southern who showed that despite his absence he has lost none of the skill, strength and speed that made him such a valued player within the first team squad in previous years. Also returning was the cockney monster that is Cal Graham who put a good shift in at second row before he had a likkle niggle and had to be substituted.
Today there were many great individual performances, yes I'm including Tom Redfearn in this. 3 tries , three assists and a mugging all down to Tom. Cal Thomas , Ben Tagg, Chris McIvor and Mike Wetherstone all putting great shifts in out wide to keep the opposition honest.
The forwards worked relentlessly in the heat and despite the best efforts of the gaffer to rotate players many were out on there feet by the end of the game.
The score of 51-17 didn't do justice to Mold who had some very good passages of play and produced some good forward play using their big back row to good effect. The storming Mold winger who resembled the type of barrel usually reserved for throwing over the edge of Niagara Falls took a lot of stopping . But stop him we did.
The Mavs team performed excellently led by Andy Smith, and once again Del demonstrated the advantage of regular training with some superb running at speed.
Today's performance was a strong 7/10 bordering on an 8 at times. There will be occasions during the season when we will be surely challenged by stronger teams and it is then when we shall get a true indication of the strength of this Mavericks team.
Man of the match for this week is shared between Harry and Tom who performed excellently at 9 and 10 respectively however special mention must also go to the 80 minute warriors who played all four quarters in the baking heat to produce the end result.
Thanks for a fantastic day it was great to watch just wish I could've been out there with you .

Love as always ,

The Gaffer .