Old Brentwood Mavericks v Cheshunt

Cheshunt had the wind on their backs in the first half and put it to good use from the start with a high and deep kick-off. The catch was knocked-backwards and the Cheshunt forwards flooded in forcing a turnover of possession.

Cheshunt centre, Scott (Tank) Drew, crashed through to get within 10m and it was the Cheshunt back-row that had the quicker reaction, allowing Will (Nightmare) Payne to get over from short-range. That play set the tone for the match and for much of the first half the Cheshunt midfield, supported by the back-row, terrorised the Maverick defence leading to scores from Jack (Jack Jack) Berry, Scott (Mr Dynamite) Glynn and Captain, Tom (Coops) Cooper.

Mavericks gave up on their kick chase game plan after 30 minutes of wasted opportunities and started playing to the demands of the increasingly windy conditions, with their forwards making some powerful ‘pick n go’ drives around the fringes of the breakdown.

It was this approach that led to the first of the Maverick’s tries before half time. Maverick’s started the 2nd half in much the same way as they had finished the 1st and, with the wind now on their backs (and tails up); they were able to score another try before Cheshunt brought some control back to their game with improved ruck breakdown defence.

As the passion built a few words were exchanged and a little bit of handbags resulted but this was short lived as Cheshunt maintained dominance in the loose and set-piece. Cheshunt scored an absolute cracker midway through the second half that started from a scrum outside their 22m area. With no ‘kick to touch’ option from the scrum, scrum-half Louis (Dutch) Mulholland out-paced the Maverick back-row, stepped the covering centre and made a further 30m before finding Daniel (Jester) Cansick who went on to score under the posts.

It should really have all been over at that point but huge respect to Maverick’s as their forwards persisted and from a 5m scrum they were allowed to drive over the line for the last of their scores.

Cheshunt’s final try was scored by Rob (Big Rob) Fairburn from a pre-planned 5m penalty move giving Louis (Dutch) Mulholland (5 from 6) a straight-forward conversion in front of the posts.

The heroics weren’t over there though; Coop’s completed a Captain’s performance by outclassing his opposite number in the ‘down a pint’ challenge back in the bar after the game. It was a testy match but the spirit of the game was reflected in the post-match speeches, well done to both teams.

There were some notably excellent performances from props, Sonny (the Don) Borzalinni, Brad (the back) Hogan and centre, Alex (little toe) Wistow.

Dave Mulholland