Rugby league: Egremont 36 - 24 Mayfield

Mayfield were under the cosh before they even set off on their three-hour trip to Whitehaven on Saturday 13 August. A mix-up at the coach company meant an hour's delay put paid to the normal warm-up routine before the game.

Right from the kick off Mayfield looked unprepared with no challenge for the ball and a very weak defensive effort. Within a minute Egremont were on the scoreboard with a converted try, 6 - 0.

Mayfield rallied and matched their opponents for the next 10 minutes but then, another defensive error allowed Egremont their second, 12 - 0.

Just two minutes on and they were again pushing up with Mayfield looking at sixes and sevens, a kick on the last which would likely have resulted in the third try was brilliantly charged down by Dec Sheridan in the Mayfield 40. He raced through and gathered the loose ball then managed to outpace the defence and went in under the sticks, Aidy Gleeson converted, 12 - 6.

It looked at this point that Mayfield were back on track but then three penalties in two minutes gave the home side cheap yards and a good field position. On a quick play from there, the stand off spotted the overlap out wide and shifted play sending the winger in the corner, a touchline conversion made it 18 - 6.

The introduction of George Kinnaird and Rob Kershaw immediately stiffened up the defence and gave the attack a bit more bite and structure and Mayfield started to settle. Nick Hargreaves was making his presence felt with some telling tackling and it wasnt long before Harry Sheridan produced a bit of magic to put Luke Fowden in for a well taken try, the conversion was missed, 18 - 10.

Egremont hit back almost immediately and caught Mayfield napping as quick play the balls got them down field and in for a telling try before the break, 24 - 10.

Despite the scoreline Mayfield still had a hand in this game and great defence from the Sheridan brothers, Harry McDonald and a massive effort from Dave Mills had made this possible.

In the blistering heat Sam Butterworth and Steve Wood found some shade to gather the boys at the break. There was no panic; this game was still there for the taking and Mayfield just had to move up a gear to keep their structure and keep switched on. All easy things to say from the sidelines but not so easy in that heat and under that pressure.

Mayfield started the second half well and were by far the better side for the first 20 minutes. Good play from Jarrod Dash and Fowden saw Mayfield cut the deficit with two brilliant tries, first from Andy Taylor then Harry Sheridan grabbing his first NCL score. Sheridan converted his own try and the score was at 24 - 20 and the game was in the balance, making the next score all important.

Unfortunately it went the home side's way when Mayfield lost possession and and they coasted in for a soft score under the sticks. The conversion was a formality, 30 - 20.

Mayfield were showing great spirit now and going all out for the win and when Dec Sheridan put the rampaging Hargreaves over and Harry Sheridan converted the difference was again back to 4 points 30 - 26.

The heat was taking its toll now and both sides were making mistakes. Egremont though, capitalised on Mayfield's. With 10 minutes to go they moved play out wide and Mayfield couldn't match them as they squeezed in at the corner for the final score, 34 - 26.

This was a devastating result for the team and it showed, they are now in the dog fight of the relegation zone with an outside chance they could go down, but if they show the same spirit in their next two games a win is possible  and they could end up not relying on others results.

The Egremont coaches gave their man of the match to Rob Kershaw whose work rate and organisation changed the game in Mayfield's favour when he came on. Mayfield's coaches gave it to Dave Mills who had a storming game, his best yet for Mayfield. There were also good showings from Hargreaves, Harry and Dec Sheridan and Fowden. Chris Fleming also showed some good touches on his debut.