Mavericks 7 - 6 Chargers

The Mavericks adult team got back to winning ways under new Head Coach Glenn Lindley on Sunday with a hard earned win over the Canterbury Christ Church Chargers. The game was a defensive battle, with both teams featuring a number of new players and the deciding point being scored by kicker Felix Harrison.

The game was a pre season friendly for the Chargers and being used to prepare the Cantebrury side foir thier season which starts in Novemeber.  The Mavericks have recrutied hard in the off season so used the game as a chance to give thier new recruits an outing and thier first intoridcution to full contact football.

The first half was a series of offensive possessions with some hard earned yards being ground out by Mavericks running backs.  Despite fielding none of their University players, the Mavericks still fielded a team of 35 players, the first time the Mavs have ever fielded a completely non student team.  Mavericks Rookie QB James Robson and rookie running backs Ross Waldron and Martin Golian grounded out some tough yards using the size advantage fo the Mavericks line to run the middle of the field, controlling the clock and punching in a score just before the half.  Felix Harrison then kicked the 1 point conversion to give the Mavericks a 7-0 lead at half time.

The second half started with a rejuvenated Chargers team marching the ball down field for a score from QB Josh Adamson, however, a holding call and a block in the back saw the play cancelled and the Mavericks regain the ball.  A switch at QB to Rookie James Harris, saw the Mavericks open up thier pass game with completions to a number of receivers and good movement of the ball, but no further scores.

The Chargers continued to fire and another break away run by QB Josh Adams broke free and found the endzone for 7-6 scoreline, a failed 2pt conversion ended the game in the Mavericks favour. 

Head Coach Glenn Lindley said after the game "I'm pleased with the Mavericks performance, we went into the game off the back of an 8 week break so started pretty cold, we managed to keep 6 rookies on the field at all times and still do enough to win, against a well drilled Chargers team."