Mayfield 34 – 36 Eccles

Mayfield saved possibly their worst performance of the season for this Thursday night fixture against an Eccles side who without doubt should have been soundly beaten on the night.

Eccles scored first for a 0 – 4 lead before Mayfield clicked into gear and ran in three tries from Komai Nualamatua, Eric Johnson and Seta Tala, two of them goaled by Aidan Gleeson to give the home side a 16 – 4 advantage.

At this stage Mayfield looked in total control and should have gone on to achieve a convincing victory, unfortunately they hit the self destruct button instead, gifting Eccles three tries and a 16 – 20 half time lead.

Mayfield’s discipline and self control left a lot to be desired as they gave away penalty after penalty allowing the Eccles side easy yards and good field position from where they took full advantage of some glaring defensive lapses.

Although not playing well this was still a game Mayfield could of won, there were some good individual performances especially in the forwards with Todd O’Brien, Mitch Spackman and Luke Sampson working non stop throughout.

The second half was very much an end-to-end affair with both sides scoring three tries apiece, Mayfield’s coming courtesy of Joe Qanuici, O’Brien and Paul Brearley with Gleeson converting two and O’Brien converting his own try.

Eccles came away with the points 34 – 36 leaving Mayfield somewhat bewildered at their change in fortune during the game.

The Eccles coaching staff gave the MOM award to Eric Johnson, whose bulldog spirit kept his side in the game in the second half but just wasn’t enough to secure the win.

Mayfield Team: Dan Kaufman, Kristian Duffy, Alex West, Seta Tala, Komai Nualamatua, Paul Brearley, Eric Johnson, Mitch Spackman, Todd O’Brien, Si Moore, Ben Butterworth, Luke Sampson, Joe Qanuici, Aidan Gleeson, Matty Moores, Wayne Ryburn, Adam Dybdall