MAYFIELD lifted the Oldham Amateur League’s Standard Cup with a 38-18 triumph against Waterhead Warriors at a packed Manor Park on Good Friday.
The local side badly missed the experience, steadying influence and craft of former Salford and Oldham player Gareth Owen, who withdrew because Friday was the day his wife was due to present him with a baby at any time.
Manor Park was bathed in bright mid-day sunshine when the game started — perfect conditions for a local cup final.
Waterhead looked to be the younger side, but hopes that the Rochdale men might crack in the later stages on a sizzling hot day never materialised.
Waterhead never had the lead, but they were like the irritant on a hot day — they wouldn’t go away. In fact, they trailed only 16-12 and 26-18 at various stages of the second half, but Mayfield took the game away from them in the last quarter of an hour with a couple of late tries as their bigger. more boisterous forwards got well on top.
The Ben Powell Trophy for man of the match went to Mayfield half-back Devlin Long, who played a key kicking and distributive role in a side that contained 40-year-old Sean Penkywicz, the former Halifax, Huddersfield, Leigh, Workington and Rochdale hooker in the front row.
A Welsh international and an old-head with 164 pro games on his CV, Penky is the Peter Pan of Rugby League, who says he feels as though he could go on for ever.
Waterhead had ex-professionals in the front row as well, in the shape of Phil Joy and Danny Bridge, but Mayfield were the stronger, more physical side and fully deserved their win which might have been by a bigger margin but for the last-ditch defensive work of Head full-back Jenson Hamilton.
His speed and strong tackling enabled him to save three certain tries on an occasion which attracted people like Sue Taylor, BARLA chair and vice-president of the RFL; well-known former hooker Mick O’Rourke, owner of chief sponsors Napier Windows; representatives of Oldham Council; Mike Kivlin, chairman of Rugby Oldham; Anita Halliwell and Phil Bradbury of the Oldham Amateur League; representatives of Oldham RLFC and the Oldham Players Association; and hundreds of players and former players, amateur and pro, who are well known in and around Oldham.
In short, it was a triumph for rugby league, for the Oldham Amateur League in particular, for both Waterhead and Mayfield and for the sport as a whole in this area.
Scorers:
Waterhead (18): goals, Hamilton (1), Keegan Brennan (2); tries: James Perks, Mason Young, Danny Bridge;
Mayfield (38): goals, Long (4), Tala (1); tries, Penkywicz. Butterworth, Ogden, Long, McDaid, Tolhurst, Tala.
