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Sat 09 Oct 2021 · NOWIRUL Widnes Coaches Ltd Division 5 West
Wirral 4th XV
3rd XV "Mavericks"
7
38
Mavericks v Wirral
Tim Woodward7 Dec 2021 - 15:37
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The Legend Returns and Calypso rugby abounds.
What a day ! What a squad ! What a result
The Mavericks continue the work from the previous week at Helsby with an impressive 38-7 victory over our friends at Wirral.
A renewed and refreshed squad of 21 arrived at Wirral demonstrating a complete mix of young and less young. We welcomed three new additions to the team in Dan and Nick who return to us from University and Martin who joins us from Shotton all three had exceptional games with Dan scoring a brilliant individual try running in from his own half whilst breaking tackles and stepping numerous Wirral players en-route to crashing over with two players still attached. Nick provided strength and impact in the forwards and played the full 80 (despite being offered a rest by the gaffer which never materialised,) finally Martin came on at half time in place of Chris at open side and immediately made an impact with some solid tackling and providing good turnover ball and playing dynamic front foot, attacking back row play. Three great additions to the Anselmians family.
The game itself was enhanced with the addition of legends on both sides with Skinny and Richie bringing some great performances from the Wirral side.
The first try of the game came in favour of The Mavs as a result of the opening unrelenting pressure and the ball being recycled quickly resulting in open and expansive play. As the ball came wide the human battering ram that is Chris Mcivor was never going to be stopped from 10 yards out and he crashed over to provide the early lead.
The pressure continued and Wirral’s defence continued to hold, creaking at times until The Mavs were awarded a scrum on the half way line a pick up from Dan Jenner at 8 who broke right and beat the cover of the Wirral flanker and passed to Matt Brookes. Matt put on the gas and effortlessly (or so it seemed) ran the perfect arc to outpace the Wirral defence to score under the post and the score was 12-0 Mavs. After a further ten minutes of to and fro and The Mavs find themselves on the Wirral try line, with a series of phases trying to get over the line if the big lads don’t do it then the little ones will and Harry Hopwood alert as ever sees the gap and snipes under the Wirral defence to dot down for the third try of the game. 19-0 Mavs. As the half closes out The Mavs’ final try came via Captain Fantastic who was the end of a queue of players waiting following a break Ricky Evans who fed to chris Mcivor down the right, the ball moved swiftly through several pairs of hands to be grounded on the left by Andy. However just prior to half time Wirral attack, and show what they are capable of if given the opportunity. A little lazy tackling provided the opportunity for Wirral to crash over and convert to make the half time score 19-7 in favour of the Mavs.
At half time The gaffer got the team together and rearranged a few things but essentially asked for more if the same. Keep the ball alive and run hard into gaps and that’s exactly what Dan did to score the first try of the second half.
The pressure remained however Wirral made some significant changes at half time and bolstered their team to provide more stability in both attack and defence.
The next try was a second for Andy Smith who showed strength and speed and exactly the asset he is to any team. The final score of 38 -7 was a fair reflection of the game with The Mavs being held up over the line on several occasions and the infamous Matt Brookes knock on that wasn’t a knock on that was deemed a clear case of ‘Jug avoidance’ by all those learned aficionados on the touch line. Even the post match sentencing was avoided by passing the responsibilities to Neil to uphold the honour of the family name .
The game complete, and the revelries commence. The shit shirt event was judged by the staff at The Stags later on in the evening and the Gaffer and his flamingoes reigned supreme.
The Mavs stayed at Wirral long after the Wirral boys left and even got into the hallowed members lounge for the remainder of the session following which we decamped to the aforementioned hostelry where drinking, opera singing and nappy sniffing continued until late in the evening (don’t ask but that’s a Mavs night out for you).
As for players of note. Too many to mention everyone put massive performances in and with a large squad to give individual mentions would have Tolstoy spinning in his grave.
All there is left to say is this weeks man of the match performance goes to Dan McNamara for his stunning display in both attack and defence and a contender for try of the season for beating the Wirral team single handed .
A brilliant day, a brilliant game.
Semel a Mavericus, Semper a Mavericus
The Gaffer
The Mavericks continue the work from the previous week at Helsby with an impressive 38-7 victory over our friends at Wirral.
A renewed and refreshed squad of 21 arrived at Wirral demonstrating a complete mix of young and less young. We welcomed three new additions to the team in Dan and Nick who return to us from University and Martin who joins us from Shotton all three had exceptional games with Dan scoring a brilliant individual try running in from his own half whilst breaking tackles and stepping numerous Wirral players en-route to crashing over with two players still attached. Nick provided strength and impact in the forwards and played the full 80 (despite being offered a rest by the gaffer which never materialised,) finally Martin came on at half time in place of Chris at open side and immediately made an impact with some solid tackling and providing good turnover ball and playing dynamic front foot, attacking back row play. Three great additions to the Anselmians family.
The game itself was enhanced with the addition of legends on both sides with Skinny and Richie bringing some great performances from the Wirral side.
The first try of the game came in favour of The Mavs as a result of the opening unrelenting pressure and the ball being recycled quickly resulting in open and expansive play. As the ball came wide the human battering ram that is Chris Mcivor was never going to be stopped from 10 yards out and he crashed over to provide the early lead.
The pressure continued and Wirral’s defence continued to hold, creaking at times until The Mavs were awarded a scrum on the half way line a pick up from Dan Jenner at 8 who broke right and beat the cover of the Wirral flanker and passed to Matt Brookes. Matt put on the gas and effortlessly (or so it seemed) ran the perfect arc to outpace the Wirral defence to score under the post and the score was 12-0 Mavs. After a further ten minutes of to and fro and The Mavs find themselves on the Wirral try line, with a series of phases trying to get over the line if the big lads don’t do it then the little ones will and Harry Hopwood alert as ever sees the gap and snipes under the Wirral defence to dot down for the third try of the game. 19-0 Mavs. As the half closes out The Mavs’ final try came via Captain Fantastic who was the end of a queue of players waiting following a break Ricky Evans who fed to chris Mcivor down the right, the ball moved swiftly through several pairs of hands to be grounded on the left by Andy. However just prior to half time Wirral attack, and show what they are capable of if given the opportunity. A little lazy tackling provided the opportunity for Wirral to crash over and convert to make the half time score 19-7 in favour of the Mavs.
At half time The gaffer got the team together and rearranged a few things but essentially asked for more if the same. Keep the ball alive and run hard into gaps and that’s exactly what Dan did to score the first try of the second half.
The pressure remained however Wirral made some significant changes at half time and bolstered their team to provide more stability in both attack and defence.
The next try was a second for Andy Smith who showed strength and speed and exactly the asset he is to any team. The final score of 38 -7 was a fair reflection of the game with The Mavs being held up over the line on several occasions and the infamous Matt Brookes knock on that wasn’t a knock on that was deemed a clear case of ‘Jug avoidance’ by all those learned aficionados on the touch line. Even the post match sentencing was avoided by passing the responsibilities to Neil to uphold the honour of the family name .
The game complete, and the revelries commence. The shit shirt event was judged by the staff at The Stags later on in the evening and the Gaffer and his flamingoes reigned supreme.
The Mavs stayed at Wirral long after the Wirral boys left and even got into the hallowed members lounge for the remainder of the session following which we decamped to the aforementioned hostelry where drinking, opera singing and nappy sniffing continued until late in the evening (don’t ask but that’s a Mavs night out for you).
As for players of note. Too many to mention everyone put massive performances in and with a large squad to give individual mentions would have Tolstoy spinning in his grave.
All there is left to say is this weeks man of the match performance goes to Dan McNamara for his stunning display in both attack and defence and a contender for try of the season for beating the Wirral team single handed .
A brilliant day, a brilliant game.
Semel a Mavericus, Semper a Mavericus
The Gaffer
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