Top of the Table come to Eastham

With last weeks stinging post match verdict still ringing in the ears The Mavs turned up this week in reflective mood. We had a job to do against Top of the table high fliers St Edwards 1st Team who we knew were going to be a real challenge. The Gaffer pondered last weeks performance and feared the worst. So much so that he decided to go to Birmingham instead. Therefore it is with thanks to Andy Smith and Craig Brookes for this weeks match report.
The phrase that rings out from this weeks performance is “Spirited in Defeat”. We always knew that SEOB were going to provide our sternest test, and so it proved to be with a final score of 57-14 demonstrating that The Eddies are not long for our league and will surely be the promoted team this year. As far as the Gaffer was concerned the score, although important, was never going to be the measure this week and instead a close look at performance both on an individual and Team level was the order of the day.
So...
After 4 mins we lose Andy Barker to the second team due to an injury !! But... we go 7 nil up when Chris Wells kicks through a poor pass from Neil but it bounces nicely and he goes over for the try. We defended strongly and tackled well but conceded 2 tries I think in quick concession. We then defended a further good 10 mins putting in some big hits and knocking the wind out of some of their big runners. They had a big Young pack that tried to blast through the defence from backs and forwards and after running out of players the Eddies went over and scored.
However after exerting pressure and forcing some poor handling from them we ended up deep in their half pinning them in their 22 and piling on the pressure. After a couple of strong attempts at scoring we set up for he backs and andy Smith took he ball off Wellsy and forced and spun over the line.
2nd half they kept battering us but we held our own and took every tackle they threw at us but it was all too much and they scored a few.
We clearly acted on our poor performance from last week and played with the pride and dignity the shirt deserves! Proud of all the players today! Everyone did their job and the score does not reflect the game as it was a great test for both teams. Guest appearances from the 2 young Neville bros played great and club legends Tony Neville provided the father / son triple act and showed he could do a great job when he came on.

One Criticism still outstanding is the Gaffers pet hate. With all this experience on the park we have 17 coaches and everyone wants to offer an opinion. There are far too many players talking amongst themselves, the ref and to other players rather than concentrating on the job at hand. Let’s focus people ......
The Gaffer decided not to award an individual MOM this week but instead to give the credit to the whole team for a much improved performance, I am aware there’s no ‘W’ in the win column but there is a massive psychological ‘W’ for us to build upon for the weeks and months ahead. Keep up the great work you showed this week lads.
Overall a much improved showing from the whole team today, a spirited and determined performance to re-ignite the pride we must show when playing. The key is now all about consistency, we must perform better when playing the games we are capable of winning, the Ellesmere Port and Mossley Hill we’re both winnable games when we play our best.
Consistency, Consistency, Consistency.
There is no fixture this week so it’s important to rest up and come back after the break ready to put everything into games yet to come.
Well played,

Semel A Mavericus, Semper A Mavericus.

The Gaffer