Richmond Knights 15
Guildford Mavericks 11

So, 3 days of the warmest, sunniest weather we have had for the last year; then Sunday comes round and..... Well, not even Michael Fish could have got this one wrong. Of course, at precisely 2pm it began to rain. However, despite the conditions, the Mavericks and the Knights produced one of the most exciting and closest games for a long while. In fact it was not decided until the final out in the bottom of the ninth, as the Knights held on, with the tying run at the plate, for a remarkable come from behind victory.

It had started off with the pitchers generally on top. The Mavericks opened up an early 3-0 lead behind Pete Hammers pitching, although some errors in the field had allowed the Knights to close the gap to just a single run after 4 innings.

The game exploded into life on a solo home run by Shimono leading off the 5th for the Knights, that left the centrefielder just watching it disappear over the fence. Ahern followed this up with a double to the fence, and came round to score on single by Bruce, to give the Knights their first lead of the game

However this wasn't to last long, as the Mavericks responded with 3 runs in the bottom of the inning, as a result of RBI doubles by both Nick Jolly and Castor Maduro.

At this point it was beginning to look as though as though the Mavericks might have the game in hand. But with the rain unrelenting, and despite the (heroic!!) efforts of the umpire to keep game balls dry, the rain was making the balls heavy, and both starting pitchers were beginning to tire. After a scoreless 6th, both sides went to the bullpen, and this proved to be the turning point in the game.

The Knights were first to take advantage, scoring a couple of times in the 7th, and then taking the lead in the 8th, although it has to be said that Tomas Diaz, pitching in relief for the Mavericks, wasn't overly helped out by his fielders. Of course the worsening conditions were making it difficult for everyone.

With Bruce pitching in relief for the Knights, and with a nasty left handed curveball, that was tying up some of the Maverick batters, it looked over for Guildford. Then in the bottom of the eighth as a result of some patience at the plate, some heads up base running, and Ross Pennington's second extra base hit of the game, the Mavericks scored 4 times to open up a 3 run lead, with just 3 Richmond outs to get.

But it wasn't to be. The Knights doubled their run total for the first 8 innings during the course of the ninth, scoring 8 times, as Diaz tired, and although the Mavericks scored themselves in the bottom of the inning, and loaded the bases, thus bringing the trying run to the plate, it proved to be just beyond them.

The game itself lasted well over 4 hours, and both sides must be commended on completing a full nine innings despite the persistent rain and constant changing of game balls. With the last home fixture being abandoned as a result of the rain, we can only hope that things improve for the visit of Bournemouth next weekend - maybe they can bring some south coast sunshine with them!

Guildford MVP: Pete Hammer

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