Mayfield 16 – 12 Millom

Mayfield picked up their first points of the season on Saturday with a hard fought win over Millom at the Mayfield sports centre. Millom were a tough side with a good defence and hard as they tried Mayfield could not break the line.

Millom caught Mayfield on the hop and a good set piece allowed their loose forward to cut through the defence for a converted try. Within twenty minutes the visitors were 12 points in front after more good work from their forwards.

Mayfield were under the cosh  and the next score was crucial.

Playing up the middle, one man rugby was never going to prove fruitful against the Cumbrian defence so Sam Butterworth stepped up and imposed himself on the game, moving the ball wide and using the pacey backs.

Rob Kershaw and Kristian Duffy got Mayfield on the front foot with penetrating scoots from acting half back.

Matt Ovington capitalised on good ball from Paul Brearley with a couple of line breaks which gave his team the field position.

A quick play the ball from big Joe Quanici saw Todd O’Brien find Mitch Spackman who was unstoppable as he grabbed his first try for the club just before half time - converted by Sam Butterworth.

This was the turning point in the game and Mayfield never looked back as they surged forward at every opportunity in the second half.

Against a lesser team this could have turned into a rout but the Millom defence was strong and held Mayfield at bay.

The Mayfield forwards kept plugging away with prompting from Butterworth and Brearley.

Luke Sampson and Si Moore worked tirelessly but the work rate of Spackman and Quanici was something to behold with both the powerful props taking drive after drive and making some crunching tackles.

Aidan Gleeson got on the end of a set piece and then converted his own try to level the scores. 12 – 12.

The writing was on the wall.

With ten minutes to go Quanici and Sampson combined to get Mayfield on the ten metre line; O’Brien found Brearley at first receiver and he threw the perfect pass to Si Moore who sealed the win for his team.

This, although not the perfect performance, was a more balanced performance from the Mayfield with players fulfilling their roles in the team and, to a man, improving on their defence.

Credit must go to Calland and Butterworth for their input at training after last week's lacklustre show.

Team; Matt Ovington, Kristian Duffy, Rob Kershaw, Matt Calland, carl Abraham, Paul Brearley, Sam Butterworth , Mitch Spackman, Todd O’Brien, Aidan Gleeson, Ben Butterworth, Alex West Luke Sampson, Si Moore, Adam Dybdall, Aidan Gleeson, Komai Nualamatua.