Parkonians come to play

A game, a game, my kingdom for a game !

So the long awaited return fixtures against Oxton Parkonians arrived on a dry (will wonders never cease) bright day. Perfect conditions for rugby and a healthy squad once again. Today promised to be a good day.
The Gaffer had a good blend of youth and experience with the experienced and well drilled pack at his disposal. Last time we played our friends from Holm Lane it was a different storey with only nine players and a scratch Mavericks/Mold/Parks Team taking to the pitch in driving horizontal rain and a howling gale. That day we were narrowly beaten however this week we were determined it would be a different story .
The Mavs welcomes some returning players today in the guise of Sam Bramhall, Duncan Hendry and Dan Jenner which improvised the playing strength of an already strong team.
The game kicked off with The Mavs playing into the moderate breeze and straight away Parks returned the kick keeping it within their large heavy pack. For the next ten minutes frustration abounded as The Mavs found it almost impossible to get their hands on the ball. The game remained static with Parks recycling and The Mavs defending in equal measure the game plan seemed to be null and void and The Mavs were unable to wrest control and spin the ball wide due to the first phase pick and go attack from Parks.
Eventually though the table started to turn and we were securing more possession. Following the performances of the previous weeks I think the pack were surprised by the Parks 8 as they provided a stern test at scrum time. Despite this we still managed to secure our own ball and as predicted once we were able to get the ball out into the hands of the backs the pints arrived. A strong finish by Chris McIvor cutting in from his wing to barge over the line with the Parks backs hanging off him. A great finish from 20 meters out . The highly impressive back line where beginning to fire. Our second try came from an almost identical move and finished in an almost identical fashion this time the mercurial Duncan Hendry picked up from the base of the scrum, ran open and fed Neil Brooks who weighted his pass into the hands of Gordon Rogers who split the defensive line and scored 10-0. It wasn’t a great day for kicking due to the aforementioned wind and as such conversions were missed during the first half and therefore the 10-0 scoreline took us into the break.
Half time talk consisted of reiterating the message of secure the ball, run off the fringes with speed and feed the backs, to be fair, there was a little frustration within the squad that the score wasn’t higher as we were clearly able to out manoeuvre the opposition but a combination of decision making and simple errors were costing us potential points. Tidy up the possession and use the backs and points would come .
Second half kicked off and saints took control early on with some great runs again from Andy Barker and Duncan Hendry leading the charge. Sam Bramhall causing all kinds of difficulties and the introduction of new players at half time appeared to freshen the attack. After a brief spell Sam Bramhall took a perfectly timed crash ball from Andy Smith and out sprinted the entire covering back line to score a fabulous try and the conversion was kicked 17-0 and a bit of daylight.
It wasn’t one way traffic in any manner of speaking and it didn’t take Parks long to score a try in the corner despite some despairing covering tackles the referee judged that the touchdown was lawful and awarded the try, and as a result Parks narrowed the gap to 12 points. A final flourish and the final moment was Mike Weatherstone’s who having received the ball in space showed what a fantastic turn of pace he has and spring red clear to score the final points of the day. At 22-5 a good result and a good performance but always room for improvements.
Noticeable performances this week were from Mike Potter who had another great game in the tight and continues to carry the ball well into contact despite scaring the touchline half to death when it appeared at one stage he was about to sling a long pass from the base of a ruck out to Gordon at 10. He eventually realised the foolishness of this particular venture and crashed forward to make more ground. In the backs a marvellous individual performance from Chris McIvor who was a constant threat in attack and covered and tacked well in defence. However, this weeks man of the match performance goes to Sam Bramhall who showed exactly what can be done with the ball in hand with a superb individual try and numerous powerful runs through the centre, tackling the Parkonians main strike runner at centre and stopping him in his tracks. Glad to have you back on board Sam and here’s hopefully to many more games to come.
A very tough run in to the end of the season to come with some big games against all the top teams. St Edwards Old Boys currently sitting in third place in the league is the big ask next week but with concerted effort and great performances they can be be beaten and we’re certainly capable.
See you next week.

Semel a Mavericus, Semper a Mavericus

The Gaffer