Fighting The Good Fight - Rochdale Mayfield v Siddal

Rochdale Mayfield travelled to Halifax for the third Saturday in succession, and the task in front of them was daunting, because Siddal are arguably the strongest Amateur Rugby League team in the competition, stood as their opponents.

So far in this short season, Mayfield have struggled to match last season’s form, but they competed valiantly despite allowing the hosts a 20 point lead in the first 20 minutes.

A solid start by Mayfield was undone by a neat kick into Mayfield’s in-goal area which Rob Kershaw and Cage Duffy could not return, despite their efforts.

The pressure was on from the drop out as Siddal worked a try early on.

The score was 6-nil, but Mayfield battled on as solid forward play by Eric Johnson and Luke Sampson got them in sight of a try, with Johnson unlucky enough to knock on as he forced his way over the line.

Siddal showed their ruthless streak as they immediately hit back with a break from halfway that resulted in a damaging try. 10 – 0 became 20 – 0, as Siddal twice punished Mayfield’s inability to complete sets of possession from their own half.

Mayfield compounded the errors by not numbering up in defence out wide, and defending on the back foot as they conceded a try on both flanks.

Midway through the half, and despite the better effort by Mayfield, things looked bleak. However, a neat chip and chase by Sam Butterworth forced Siddal into a penalty that could have resulted in a sin-binning for a professional foul.

Solid running by Joe Qanuici drove Mayfield forward, and Todd O’Brien took advantage to drive over for an Aiden Gleeson converted try to make it 20 - 6.

James Kelly got close to the line and Luke Sampson finished the job, powering over for a try that Sam Butterworth converted.

Half time at 20-12, and despite a poor start, Mayfield had fought their way back into the game with better ball discipline and a tougher approach to the tackling and hard yards areas of the game.

Siddal again showed a ruthless streak as they were marched into the Mayfield half with back to back penalties, and took advantage by cutting inside the trailing defence to score two tries, the second of which was awarded despite claims of a knock on in the act of scoring.

30-12 to Siddal but Mayfield refused to give in, and the great effort displayed by each team entertained the large crowd, sending them into a cheerful uproar.

Mayfield needed to score next and appeared to have had a slice of luck as a dropped bomb gifted Siddal a clear run to the line, but the Siddal player spilled the ball untouched. Play was brought back for the knock on and the Mayfield line was breached in the next set. 36-12 with 18 minutes of play left and Mayfield fought back with long breaks by Simon Moore and Luke Sampson, only stopped by never-say-die scramble defence and dropped last passes. Andy Lee finally got John Foy away for a deserved score that Aiden Gleeson converted.

A final score of 36-18 didn’t really reflect Mayfield’s contribution, despite the Rochdale side’s vast improvement on their performances in the previous weeks.