Mavs beat local rivals

So the Mavs had a short journey down the M53 to Prenton. As ever in December the weather led to questions as to whether it would be rugby or Water polo we would play.
Prior to kick off the Mavs totalled to 16 players and Prenton apparently had 8. Well 8 was interesting as the hosts 8 looked a lot like 12 so the Mavs initially loaned Les and Mike and took Les back to make it 14 vs 13. Now prior to the first scrum it was agreed that numbers in the scrum should be matched, Well not only did the hosts manage to struggle to work out their 8 but so did a very important individual who is required for a game to take place.
From the first scrum of the game a chip over the top with a fortunate bounce led to the hosts score the first try of the game.
The Mavs had other thoughts on their minds. Some solid work in the scrums led to front foot ball and plenty of space for El Captain Smith to run into and feed the outside backs. Tom, Christian & Del proving to be a pain when in space. The backs had a field day and were able to move the ball with ease. Andy Smith did what he does best from 10m out and crash over for a score. Some clever work from a lineout from Christian, Tom and Gordon led to a cheeky score. Tom called for a quick line out, then excellent footwork led to an easy pass to Christian that led to him walking under the posts. Christian added to his score later on with a try following work from Neil Brookes and Tom that set him away.
Del picked a fantastic change of angle, which led to him crashing under the posts before the end of the half.
Mike who kindly played for Prenton proved to be thorn in the side of the Mavs with some strong running. The pack got their deserved score with Spot controlling a walk over try.
At half time Prenton uncovered more players to make 8 look like 13! So Mike returned to the fold.
Eddie, Spot, Stocky put in a shift with some big hits and committing men at every break down. Graham and Les were like a hoover and picking up the ball anytime it was loose and setting the team in the right direction. Mike Potter & Plum (making his first appearance) got around the pitch finding work and dominating their opposite man led to more Mavs dominance. Brian found some interesting running lines (across the field) but led to some good passes and opening space for runners, Tom and Del being big benefactors of this.
The start of the second half led to some questionable calls and the game started to change in momentum and a few kicks from Prenton led to a few mistakes under our posts to allow 3 easy tries.
Neil and Gordon had an arm chair ride all game with runners and carriers all over the place. Gordon was able to ping the hosts back. One of the more comical moments off the game where a long clearing kick by Gordon led to confusion in the ranks of Prenton, who I think we're still trying to work out who needed to go into the scrum, led to a panic in the wingers, who attempted to kick the ball towards the far touch line but instead kicked the ball against the upright and led to Eddie diving over for his third try of the season (for a combined 8m of running). The final 2 scores came from the Mavs who produced the killer edges, Tom Redfearn with a deserved finish from a well weighted pass from Gordon following forward dominance and the other from Neil Brookes who completed the 8 try win for the Mavs with a pick up and score from a scrum drive. Andy Smith kicked well considering the conditions with 4 extras to give the Mavs a 48-31 victory.
It is a hard one to pick the man of the match as it was noted above all 16 contributed well to the game and the win. However at some stage all the Mavs were probably spoken to by the referee for 'helping him' with decisions, something we need to avoid going forward Gents! Tom was outstanding as ever with his dynamic running. Stocky, Steve, Les and Graham worked tirelessly. Mike and Plum dominated the Scrums. But all of us put in a fantastic shift!
However this week's Man of the Match is awarded to Eddie, who was a constant around the park with tackles, running and a cheeky score. Well done Eddie.
But well done to us all, a much deserved win and it was good to play in a balanced game against Prenton with players of a even level. Both teams played in the game in the right spirit which was noted by the Prenton captain at the end of the match.
Onwards and upwards to Ellesmere Port, another tough fixture.