Mayfield pay for poor start
MAYFIELD NWML side travelled to Warrington on Saturday looking for a return to winning form – but came up short against a focused Latchford.
As the Mayfield side arrived at the ground and strolled in, Latchford were already out doing their warm up and showing the kind of intensity and focus that winners need.
That mind set paid dividends within the first four minutes as Mayfield had given away three penalties and two converted tries leaving themselves a mountain to climb.
Once they had sorted themselves out and focused on the game they showed beyond doubt that they have the skill and ability to match the teams at this level – but this is first division rugby and you need to match the opposition’s intensity not just on the pitch but in your preparations.
At 12-0 down, Mayfield looked out of it already but then they got it together and with their first possession they drove up field with Jack Rush and Paul Riley making good yards.
As they got near the Latchford line Cole Connolly dummied his way over from half back, Marsland converted, 12-6.
It was a scorching day, perfect for watching rugby league and this developed into a great game, especially for the neutral.
A great tackle from Latchford saw Mayfield cough up possession the home side capitalised straight away and were soon crossing for their third try, 16-6.
The introduction of Sean Mulcahy strengthened the defence and put his side in the driver’s seat as his crunching tackles rocked Latchford. As they threatened the Latchford line it took a perfectly timed pass from Lewis Butterworth to Joe Schofield to break through the defence, 16-10.
Further tries from Luke Hartley and Nick Hargreaves saw Mayfield take the lead at 16-18.
The visitors were on top now in every way, playing some great rugby Corey Newsham, John Foy, and Connolly showed some good touches as they prompted their side.
The half time break came at the wrong time for Mayfield and totally disrupted their momentum and the second half started much like the first with penalties galore. Some fantastic defence saw Latchford’s big forwards held up over the line on two occasions but a speculative pass to their winger saw him pluck the ball out of the air and dive over for a score, 22-18.
Mayfield plugged away and regained their superiority but struggled to break the line until Foy carved an opening for the impressive Jackson Kelly to go in and the Connolly conversion made it 22-24.
Latchford dug deep and somehow managed to find the energy to up the pace and two more tries saw them seal the game 32-24.
Mayfield were gutted – they thought they had enough to take this game but unfortunately paid the price for a shocking start. Without the first four minutes Mayfield would have won the game by four points.
Lewis Butterworth, Luke Hartley Joe Schofield, Nick Hargreaves, Corey Newsham, John Foy, John Marsland, Paul Riley, Cole Connolly, Shaun Hurley, Jordan Cella, Jack Rush, Rob Kershaw, Jackson Kelly, Jake Boardman, Sean Mulcahy, James Shaw.