Rugby League: St Judes 0 – 33 Mayfield

Rochdale Mayfield

It was a very young Mayfield side that made the trip to Wigan on Saturday and beat a side who had only lost one league game for almost a year.

St Judes understandably fancied their chances against the visitors but Mayfield had other ideas; they refused to be bullied and stood up to the experienced Judes forwards and bettered them in every department.

Judes pressed the Mayfield line for the first ten minutes but the young bucks held firm rocking them back as they formed a solid defensive wall. Joe Schofield, Jimmy Connaughton and Tom Fitz were particularly busy on their own line.

Building on the defence Nick Hargreaves and Jack Rush forced their way up field and Rob Kershaw did well to score in the corner after a great ball from John Foy. Marsland converted.

Judes upped the pressure but the Mayfield defence matched them absorbing everything that was thrown at them.

A loose Judes ball was seized upon by Corey Newsham and he proved to be unstoppable as he sprinted fully 60 metres to score in the opposite corner. Marsland again converted.

Cameron Connolly was directing the play and the forwards were responding well to his prompting.

The longer the game went on the more telling Mayfield’s superiority was and they finished the half strongly, with Luke Hartley unlucky on a couple of occasions not to add to the score after well timed breaks.

The second half saw Judes trying everything they could to get off the mark but again Hargreaves, Rush, Connaughton and Schofield held firm and refused to let them through.

Judes' frustration boiled over on more than one occasion but the Mayfield players refused to be bullied and led by Connaughton, and with the introduction of Connor Fitton, they galvanised their efforts and again took control of the game.

After a sustained spell of pressure on the Judes line with no points to show, Marsland opted for a one pointer, which energised Mayfield even more and they totally outclassed their opponents from then to the final whistle.

The last thirty minutes turned into the Connor Fitton show. Fitton scored after good work from Hargreaves, he then put Connaughton over under the posts with a perfectly timed pass. Marsland added both conversions plus a penalty for a swinging arm.

With minutes to go Kershaw showed he still has a bit of rugby left in him as he finished off a set piece from the base of the scrum. Marsland added the two to round off the scoring.

A shocked St Judes and breathed a sigh of relief as the final whistle sounded  - soundly beaten by the better side on the day.

Man-of-the-match went to Connor Fitton for his live wire second half, which put paid to any thoughts Judes had of getting back into the game.