A Tale of Two Teams

As a rather sad indictment of the modern game at Third/fourth team level it is a more frequent occurrence that teams find it difficult to field teams on a regular basis. Unfortunately Ormskirk third team were the latest victims and cried of today's fixture. We wish them well in the future and sincerely hope they are able to revitalise their playing strength and field a full three teams in the months ahead. At the last minute, however we were able to secure a local friendly against our friends Oxton Parkonians, from down the M53
The day started rather nervously as the gaffer received notification of cry off after cry off and it seemed we were losing players hand over fist up the teams . An eventual team of fourteen appeared on the team sheet before kick off.
Stop the press..... no referee ,
cometh the hour cometh the man and Gordon Rogers stepped up to the plate . Thanks Gordon , a very competent and fair performance.
The game started at 13 Mavs against 14 Oxton Parkonians and based upon previous weeks results I was expecting a tough, closely fought battle of attrition between the two teams. Evidently no one had told The Mavericks pack the script as they proceeded to decimate a heavy cumbersome Parkonian front 6. Once again the forward prescience was immense with noticeable performances from Andy Barker (as always), Craig Brookes and a particularly strong performance from Mike Potter who is developing into a much improved ball handler.
The score of 79-17 to the Mavs is kind of an irrelevance bearing in kind it was a friendly fixture , however there were significant comments to be made.
I should start with mentioning the immense performance from the 'fantastic four' of Neil Brookes(2), Andy Thompson(3) , Del(4) and Andy Smith (?)who consistently 'bust' impressive holes in the Parkonians defence and were a constant thorn in the side. Their great running lines meant that there was no relaxing from the defence and the pressure told in the score line .
Don't get me wrong, Parkonians turned up with an impressive back line and strong pack, however, strong tackling and a defensive mindset from The Mavs restricted Parks to three well taken tries. The impact the Mavs had on the game ensured that The Parkonians one man advantage was negated, and the Parkonians team had no answer to the strong running and impressive defensive structure of the Mavericks unit.
I return to the forwards for a special mention, as it was due to the rock solid performance up front that allowed the backs to run riot. On the subject of forward dominance it would be highly neglectful of me to fail to mention the sterling efforts of Andy Barker and Craig Brookes in securing their first tries of the season. First of many I'm sure.
Although I've highlighted individual performances here today it is essential that we remember that this great game of rugby is a team effort and without that team the individuals can't perform.
Moment of the match was when Mike Potter found himself in acres of space with only one man to beat, however he had three quarters of the pitch to run, thankfully ( for Mike) Gordon blew for an infringement. Thought we had our first 40 metre sprint of the season.
My man of the match this week goes to Del Alderson who was a constant threat in defence and I am constantly reassured by the " Hold im up, Hold im up" call which tells me there is a defensive play panning out in our favour. Cheers Del.
Thanks to Oxton Parkonians for a great game, played in a great atmosphere and helping us to get some game time for all players concerned, and even some refereeing practice for Captain G Spot.
Thanks to every man out there on Saturday afternoon and thanks for a great team performance.
Proud to be a Maverick

The Gaffer