Mayfield victorious at Wigan St Jude

With five enforced changes from the team that defeated Millom last week, Mayfield travelled to Wigan and performed heroics as they stormed to a 32-48 victory.

With eleven first team squad members unavailable, coach Matt Calland had some tough decisions to take as he made his team selection but, fortunately, he made all the right choices.

Jude are a big side and started off well, looking to out-muscle the under-strength Mayfield side.

The first ten minutes of the game were tough and uncompromising, with both sets of players trying to gain superiority.

Mayfield first drew blood after a prolonged spell of pressure saw Todd O’Brien put Aidy Gleeson through the gap, with Gleeson converting.

Straight from the kick-off, Mayfield gave away possession and the home side capitalised, levelling the score 6-6.

Within minutes Jude had seized the initiative after their giant centre powered through some weak Mayfield defence to put his side into the lead 12-6.

There then followed a period of scrappy play with both sides grabbing tries; Ieuan Higgs, Nick Hargreaves and Matt Calland being Mayfield’s scorers with Aidy Gleeson adding a conversion.

The half-time score of 20-22 was probably a fair reflection of the game - although Mayfield were the better team, each time they scored they made soft errors in the next set, allowing Jude to get back into the game.

The Mayfield pack were exceptional, with Mark Biggins once again showing what rugby league is all about. Playing with an injured arm, Biggins was an inspiration to his team mates; taking two drives out of every set and topping the tackle count by a country mile.

As usual this season Mayfield showed they are not a one-man team with Eric Johnson, Todd O’Brien and Nick Hargreaves working overtime.

The second half started well for Mayfield, with Gleeson making ground from the kick off and providing the ball for Rob Kershaw to make the break from the half-way line; carrying a desperate defender over the line as he touched down. Gleeson converted, taking the score to 20-28.

True to form, Mayfield then lost possession and allowed the opposition repeat sets on the line from where they eventually scored, the score now being 26-28.

Andy Lee showed a touch of class as he made the break from where Todd O’Brien picked up the ball. O’Brien had been out prior to kick-off and marked a cross on the posts when he picked up the ball and put in the kick it hit the mark and rebounded straight back into his hands as he dived for the line - pure genius. Gleeson converted, taking it to 26-34.

In their last valiant attempt to win the game, Jude pushed forward and Mayfield failed to respond to a kick through as the stand-off grabbed a converted score; 32-34.

The last fifteen minutes was all Mayfield as they consolidated the win, with Matt Calland grabbing two more to complete a hat trick, with a Gleeson conversion 32-34, and powerful prop Aidy Gleeson following-up his own kick through to complete the scoring 32-48.

This was a credit to each of the seventeen players in blue and white. There were some fantastic performances with Biggins being particularly outstanding. Todd O’Brien, Eric Johnson, Luke Samson, Liam Whalley and Jack Ashworth weren’t far behind in the forwards, while in the back the youthful pairing of Ieuan Higgs and Ben Duffy at halfbacks proved to be the thorn in the Jude side all afternoon.

The Jude coach awarded the Man of the Match to Aidy Gleeson, whose two tries and all-round display were inspirational.

The team and coach Matt Calland would also like to extend a warm vote of thanks to the travelling band of supporters who have followed their exploits this season, saying: “They are worth at least six points on the score board every week.”

Mayfield are back in action on Friday night when they entertain local rivals St Anne's at the Mayfield Sports Centre, kicking off at 7.30.

It is hoped that Jack Samson, Kristian Duffy, Paul Brearley, Ben Butterworth and Ben Simpson will all be back in contention for places, but considering how this team has done for the last two games it will take something special for them to displace their deputies

In the Zone with Ace Electrical will be the Hornets ex-players association and guests with Unique Sports sponsoring the match ball.

Fixtures Friday 3 August
National Conference Division 1 - Mayfield v St Anne's (KO 7.30pm).