Brearley fires Mayfield into final
MAYFIELD progressed to the Oldham Standard Cup final with a last gasp win over second division Saddleworth at the Mayfield Sports Centre on Wednesday night.
Despite being two divisions below their hosts, Saddleworth matched Mayfield across the field.
Tries from Zac Baker and Declan Sheridan plus a conversion and a Zac Hartley penalty on the stroke of half time saw Mayfield go in with a 12-4 half time advantage.
There were outstanding first half performances from James Connaughton, James Shaw, Lewis Sheridan and Cameron Connolly with a useful for a Zac Hartley converted try _ it seemed this was the case.
But Saddleworth had other ideas and they plugged away, upsetting Mayfield’s rhythm and gradually making their presence felt.
Two tries around the half hour mark put the visitors right back in the game and with five minutes left their influential stand off created the opportunity for his side to draw level.
This was a cracking game of rugby for the neutral supporter, but for the many Mayfield fans in the crowd it was a real nail biter.
Both sides gave it their all in the final five minutes and both teams could well have run out winners. But it was Mayfield who triumphed as Brearley again showed his class as he dummied his way over on the final whistle, Hartley again converting to seal the win 24-18.
The crowd breathed a sigh of relief as did the team and coaches but Saddleworth must have felt a little hard done to after a fantastic effort.
This win went some way to avenging the defeat by Saddleworth in last year’s final and set up a Good Friday final with St Annes.