Rugby league: Siddal 30 - 22 Mayfield

Date published: 25 June 2024

Mayfield travelled with a strong squad on Saturday 22 June to face Siddal and a great game was in the offing.

Jordan Parr took the kick off to start the game and a wicked bounce caught out the Siddal forwards. Travis Long strolled in, took the ball and crossed for what must be one of the quickest tries on record with less than twenty seconds on the clock, Parr added the two 0 - 6.

Siddal responded positively and hit Mayfield with everything but the Mayfield defence held firm. With still less than ten minutes on the clock Mayfield had pounced again, through Lewis Butterworth, Parr again added the two 0 - 12.

Nobody had expected this scoreline but also nobody expected it to remain. Siddal were really fired up now and raised the pace of the game. A missed tackle saw the home side get on the scoreboard with a soft try and then on 25 minutes they managed to equalise as Mayfield struggled to contain the big mobile Yorkshire pack, 12 - 12.

Mayfield then lost influential half back Sam Wright with an ankle injury and they never quite recovered from that loss. Shortly after half time Sam Butterworth's options had been severely cut as his side was left with just one fit substitute on the bench as Joe Taira and then Harrison Chappel picked up injuries. It was always going to be a tough game but with just one substitute it was even more so.

Both sides gave it their all from the beginning of the second half, with some fantastic rugby being played. Mayfield were their own worst enemy as they failed to deal with an average kick from the Siddal half back, the bounce went straight to a Siddal attacker and he dived over for a converted try and give his side the lead for the first time in the game, 18 - 12.

Mayfield's response was superb as Ben Metcalfe, Gareth Ellison and Eli Ponton took the ball to the line, forcing Siddal to work hard in defence to keep them out. Cole Connolly, Sean Slater and Dev Long worked just as hard to try and open up the gaps and when they did up popped Travis Long to score his second try of the game, Parr tagged on the conversion to level the scores again.

With the game delicately balanced Mayfield were desperately unlucky as what looked like a blatant knock on was missed and Siddal took advantage as they forged their way toward the Mayfield line and found a big gap in the wrong footed defence, 24 - 18.

This was seen as the game breaker and Siddal once more upped the pace of the game with very quick play the balls and sharp half back play. This paid dividends as their big number eight produced a brilliant offload in the tackle to put the loose forward in for another converted score, 30 - 18.

Mayfield could have folded at this point but that's not in their DNA. They picked themselves up and, despite having run their blood to water, put in an enormous effort which saw the cut the gap to 30 - 22. They just couldn't manage to rescue the game and must see this as two points lost. It's very difficult to play well at this level when you lose your playmaker and two of your forwards but to Mayfield's credit they pushed Siddal all the way.