Anselmian Mavericks v Birkenhead Park 3's

Now, every season brings certain games that every player wants a piece of. Whether that be England v Wales, Australia v New Zealand or even the now legendary West Country Derbys and today was no different. Any fixture between the great institutions of Birkenhead Park and Anselmains is always going to be a closely fought affair and today was no exception. Well, the first 60 mins were close (Ed).
Without wishing to bore you dear reader with the comings and goings during the week in regard to where this fixture was going to be played I would like to thank Oxton Parkonians for the kind offer of hosting the fixture (despite the last-minute change) I would also like to thank Birkenhead Park and the referee for their flexibility with the last-minute change of plan.
Anyway, the game was now afoot and both squads gathered at Malone Field at the appointee time.
The Gaffer was presented with a abundance of riches and some exciting opportunities this week. The three debutants to the Mavs ranks all playing significant roles both on and off the pitch. A strong starting 15 promised a great footing for our finishers to close the game off, however there were some challenges to overcome first. The main one being a Birkenhead park squad who came with a good mix of youth and experience and in two noticeable cases very very experienced. With a winger built like a second row and two (experienced) lads who I’m sure we’re playing when Noah was a lad. By their own admittance they should’ve retired and they certainly should know better at their age. That just shows the power of grass roots rugby, when your club comes a callin’ you answer the call. Fair play to all the ‘more mature’ players who strapped on the boots yesterday to get an entertaining game played.
I mentioned that there were some challenges to overcome. The second one was a more pressing issue in so much as for the first 15 minutes of the game The Mavs appeared to have forgotten how to play rugby…. I know! It’s a strange one but there you have it. Some very strange decision making, a lack of motivation, passion and drive it’s almost as though we were sleep walking into the game. There is one thing you cannot bring to a game against the ‘auld enemy’ it’s a lack of commitment but by that’s what we did and it soon showed with Park crashing over for the first try of the game and The Mavs were 7-0 down after 5 mins.
Behind the try line whilst we regrouped the voice in the wilderness was Ian who succinctly (loudly) provided some constructive feedback (a right royal bollocking) and gave the team the wakeup call that was required.
So as we all know by now the Gaffer has never been the best with his recounting the tries and scorers associated with our weekly outings and today was not different. So apologies and as a great man once said I know I’ve got all the right scorers but not necessarily in the right places. However, the one I do remember was the opening try. One of our debutants Paul Bowyer scores his debut try on the left touchline following a series of well-timed passes through the backs and the score is 5-7 with the only kick of the day missed by our kicking machine at 9.
The remainder of the half continued in a too and fro fashion with the Mavs letting themselves down and simple tasks eluded both forwards and backs alike. Despite the slightly disappointing half The Mavs went into the half 19-14 in the lead with a further two superb Mavs tries delivered through some frantic forward efforts from Cal ‘baby rhino’ Peers crashing over from a pick and go, followed by Martin Harvey scampering over for his moment of glory.
So half time arrived a finally an opportunity to press the reset button.
Now, as you are all aware it is a very rare occasion, nay a very cold day in Hell when The Gaffer is lost for words. However, Old Beelzebub must’ve had his thermals on and put an extra bar on the three-bar fire at 3 o’clock on Saturday afternoon.
Game Plan …… we all know the game plan. Why are we not applying it. Okay to our strengths and focus on what we do so well.
Let’s put the ball through the hands, let’s take care of the phases and let’s play heads up rugby. It’s not tricky, we’re not talking highly sophisticated complex coaching strategies here. Let’s just do the simple stuff well and the tries will come.
Anyway, that was what I would’ve said if I hadn’t lost the ability to string two words together.
Regardless, what was said was,
We know where we are failing, Rugby 101, get it sorted and let’s start putting Park away.
And ………... that’s exactly what we did. The final score of 54 - 19 reflected the game and although poor performance was a significant factor in the first half the few chances that Birkenhead Park created were used effectively.
The second half, and the Mavs really opened up, with Park having very little in reserve to call upon and the decisive introduction of Clint Van Big Saffa with his bionic leg made a significant difference in the last 20 mins with some massive gains into the opposition 22 which resulted in two late tries and a nice little scamper over for our mercurial welsh wizard at 10.
The match as always was a tense and physical affair with three yellows being awarded during the match (we even won that one 2-1), but an ignominious return to Eastham for Stormsy who received the first yellow of the day for a spot of tap dancing on the arm of Eric our blind side, all I can say is it’s a good job Eric was lying on the floor when the incident happened as we may have seen the first time travelling rugby player as Stormsy was launched into the middle of last week.
Overall, a good performance from The Mavs which could’ve been better, some well taken tries some silly mistakes and some great skill to round off the triumvirate of victories for Anselmians this season.
So, the squad breakdown and our special mentions.
Firstly, a welcome to The Mavs family for Jamie Reece-Jones, Paul Bowyer and Andy Jackson who all played significant roles in todays win. Our front row might of Chris McGowan, Cal Peers, Dave Walker and John Sim provided the solid foundation to our set pieces with Tom ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson and Alan ‘80 mins’ Mountford the engine room, and our ever-destructive bac row of Tom Helmsley, Martin Harvey and Eric ‘The Ink’ McMorine providing line our supremacy, attack round the base and some dynamic work in the loose, a massive boost to selection options moving forward with the return to playing action for Chris Ford. Another great finisher and a welcome return.
Onto the backs and at 9 is our very own ‘Faff’ our very own ‘Dupont’ and he who shall not be named. A great marshalling of the troops though and provided some wise words when they were required. Our two tens for this week Dan Jenner started at 10 with Matt Hall taking up the reigns later in the afternoon with both fly halves claiming a try a piece. Into the Centres and the dynamic duo of Jack Hancock ands Andy Smith providing an impenetrable midfield and supported by the battering ram that is Clint Van Kuijeren it was all a little too much to handle in the middle. Our back three of Paul Bowyer, Jamie Reece-Jones and Michael Wooton all providing real attacking options with this weeks Man of The Match Paul Bowyer showing the benefit of a steep learning curve at being in the right place at the right time to score his try and Jamie showing strength with his battering ram approach to his first try for the Mavs. Overall an excellent performance from 1 – 20. So the ghosts of past encounters were firmly exorcised today on the hallowed turf of Malone Field and the Mavs faithful on the Mavs Mount enjoyed the spectacle of a resurgent squad and a powerful spirit. Thanks to all involved.
As a final note, the pre-match activities in the club house reminds us of what being an Anselmian is all about. The annual past players lunch brought together friends of old and everyone from 19 to 90 were there to share the atmosphere around the bar. The Alacadoo is alive and kicking and drinking and eating at Malone Field.
We move up one place in the league and move forward to a very tough away fixture at Widnes next week. So, here’s to another strong availability and another strong performance.

Semel a Mavericus, Semper a Mavericus,

The Gaffer.