Mavericks lift Plate

Heavy defeats to Cleckheaton (21-0) and Wooden Spoon (29-7) left Mavericks needing to win their final game against Halifax Barbarians to qualify for the Plate.

Early tries from Patrick Northover and Nathan Earland set the tone, allowing Leamington to run out 35-7 winners.

Facing hosts Halifax in the quarter-final of the Plate, Mavericks got off to the perfect start when John Raby ran deep from his own half to open the scoring.

The sin-binning of Leigh Cleary halted Mavericks’ momentum and allowed Barbarians to equalise, but the Leamington side came on strongly after the break to win 33-12.

A Nathan Earland hat-trick was the highlight of a 31-7 semi-final sucess over Old Broadlians, which set up a final against Ilkley.

It seemed that everything Mavericks had trained and worked for over the past few months came to fruition, with three tries coming straight from their own kick-offs with not a tackle being made.

A further try before half-time extended the lead and, although Ilkley did get a deserved score, Mavericks completed a 40-7 success, with Earland adding the final flourish.