Mayfield v Caddishead

Mayfield NWC made the short trip down the M60 on Saturday (18 September 2010) to meet Caddishead Rhinos.

There have been some physical encounters between these two teams over recent years and this one was no different.

Mayfield coasted to a 0- 12 lead after 20 minutes with two tries from Sean Snape both of these were typical efforts from Snape who as a serving Para knows no fear, he muscled his way through several defenders on both occasions refusing to be stopped and claiming the scores, Marsland was successful with the conversions.

Caddishead dug deep and fought back admirably but could not hold a determined Mayfield side who were going all out for a third consecutive win.

Good work down the left hand channel by first Todd then England saw the ball get to Dave Ellis who showed immense strength to hold off three tacklers and stretch out a long arm to touch down out wide.

At 0 – 16 it looked grim for the home team but a series of uncharacteristic errors and penalties saw them mount a comeback with two converted tries.

This time last season would have seen the visitors struggle to regain control but not this season as the players’ fight, not only to win but to retain their shirts in the face of tough competition.

All seventeen of the blue and whites dug deep and found that extra bit of stamina needed in these situations.

With less than ten minutes left Simpson carried the ball from his own twenty offloaded in the tackle to the following Todd who in turn slipped the pass to Durrand who not wishing to be out done by the previous try scorers powered his way through three would be tacklers to score the try which put the game beyond the reach of Caddishead Marsland converted to make the final score 12 – 22 and three wins out of three for a Mayfield side filled with confidence, enthusiasm and more than a sprinkling of skill.

Apart from a slack period when Caddishead scored their points the Mayfield defence was again superb.

On both occasions when the home side did break the defensive line they had been gifted two repeat sets in their oppositions twenty through soft penalties, no team can hold out under these conditions so the only alternative is not to give the possession away stay focused and keep your discipline.

Man of the match for Mayfield was Snape closely followed by Ellis and Todd.