Mayfield 44 – 38 Leigh Miners

Photo: Aidy Gleeson Snr

Lewis Sheridan on his way to his hattrick - Mayfield 44 – 38 Leigh Miners

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It was a definite game of two halves at the Mayfield Sports Centre on Saturday as Mayfield put Leigh Miners to the sword.

In the first half Mayfield had put 18 points on the board within the first 15 minutes, with the first coming after just two minutes as Joe Quanici stormed onto an inside pass from Todd O’Brien and crashed through three defenders for a score under the sticks. Converted by Sam Butterworth.

With only four minutes on the clock Callum Marriott showed his class, taking two drives in the set to give the field position from where Paul Brearley found Lewis Sheridan for his first try of the day. Converted by Butterworth.

Miners tried to force their way back into the game but the Mayfield defence was superb, denying them any opportunity to score and they had no answer to the pace and quality being shown from Butterworth and Paul Brearley, who again was proving what a great asset to the team he is.

Any attempt made by Miners to get near the Mayfield line was forced back by superb tackling, with Eric Johnson, Jake Boardman and Ben Butterworth leading the way.

The Mayfield spirit was epitomised when Sam Butterworth put up a towering kick from the half way line Liam Whalley chased the kick, tackled the receiver and then drove him back over the try line to force the drop out.

These are the plays that lift teams, when they see their team mates put in that sort of effort it makes other players want to do the same.

Joe Quanici was having a strong game and from one of his typical blockbusting runs he showed another side to his game as he found the supporting Lewis Sheridan with a perfectly timed pass and the full back did the rest as he extended the lead with another Butterworth converted try.

Aidan Gleeson was next to benefit from Quanici’s efforts as he made the most his position to crash over. Butterworth again converting.

Miners to their credit showed their pedigree and never gave up. This attitude was rewarded as they were awarded a penalty for a ball steal and managed to pull back a converted try.

Mayfield responded positively and Paul Brearley added a solo effort. Again converted by Butterworth.

With seconds to go to half time Miners found their feet and their influential scrum half began to run the game, grabbing himself a converted score at a crucial time. 

For any neutrals in the crowd the second half was a real treat as both sides went all out for victory at 30 – 12 the visitors could have just settled for damage limitation but not Miners they came straight at Mayfield, scoring after just two minutes of the second half.

The home side hit back with two more tries from Dave Wood who rose like the proverbial salmon to pluck a Breearley kick out of the air, and Eric Johnson who also took a kick, this time from Butterworth, to float over.

Mayfield began to tire and started to give away penalties, this cost them dearly as back to back offences gave Miners a score out wide.

Mayfield's woes increased when Matt Calland took out his opposite number with a high shot after he was wrong footed, the ref saw fit to show Calland the red card - 12 men with twenty minutes left and Miners were on the front foot.

Their scrum half took full advantage of the situation rallying his troops to the fore and they grabbed two converted scores within minutes of Calland leaving the field.

Mayfield looked out on their feet after a monumental effort and Miners sensed this as they pushed forward only try saving tackles from Rob Kershaw, Declan Sheridan and Seta Tala kept their team in the game.

With a little over five  minutes remaining Brearley put in a defence splitting kick which the Leigh full back managed to gather only to find Lewis Sheridan pop up and steal the ball and dive over to complete his hat trick.

With a minute left Butterworth attempted to seal the game with a drop goal. He narrowly missed out but Miners took full advantage storming up field and again reducing the lead to one score.

The ref seemed to be in a different time zone as he played an extra six minutes.

Mayfield were out on their feet but to a man they drew on untapped energy levels to keep the now marauding Miners out. T

he sense of relief was palpable when the final whistle sounded, giving Mayfield a thoroughly deserved hard fought win.

The effort put in in the final minutes was outstanding with Callum Marriott in particular standing firm and putting his body literally on the line.

Match sponsors Dean Hartley and the staff from Liz’s Hotel picked Paul Brearley as their man-of-the-match and the coaches went for Lewis Sheridan but they could have picked anyone in this outstanding performance.

Once again the crowd was fantastic showing that Mayfield must be one of the best supported teams in the league.

Mayfield: Lewis Sheridan, Seta Tala, Dave Wood, Matt Calland, Rob Kershaw, Paul Brearley, Sam Butterworth, Callum Marriott, Eric Johnson, Jake Boardman, Ben Butterworth, Liam Whalley, Joe Quanici, Aidan Gleeson, Declan Sheridan, Todd O’Brien, Luke Sampson.