After reaching the postseason for the second time in as many seasons, the Mavericks came out of the first round better this season than the last. This match saw classic Guildford action, as the entire team pulled together to send themselves through to the last four in some style. Despite pitcher Matt Bruce promising to "bring the kitchen sink", it was Braintree who gave him the draining board to go with it, as the local authority had failed to remark the field, and the only thing used to build the mound, was a spirit level. Thankfully despite high wind levels at time, and the constant impending rainfall, it was the away who shone at Notley.

The first inning saw Rob Shaw taking the first of the game's astonishing thirty-five walk, taking a base-on-balls. The Mavericks' only score was from a sacrifice hit from John Kristensen, sending Shaw home, having stolen his way to second and onto third via a defensive error. The Rays were shut-out after excellent fielding from Jeremy Abel, Kristensen and an astonishing catch at the foot of second base by Tom Hall.

The second inning saw Abel drawing a walk with the bases loaded, immediately after Gregg Yates singled in James Guerra. Defensively, Bruce was to only pitch seven balls, as Braintree were sent down one-two-three by a combination of a catch from Yates, and two ground-outs from Kristensen and Hall to Guerra, respectively.

Inning three saw the Guildford offense start to fade, with only and sacrifice hit from Guerra brining in Chris Lary, whilst the Rays brought home four players, most notable due to a long hit from Braintree's Brian Barrett. The firm ground and lack of outfield fence meant that what would have ordinarily been a single or double turned into a two-RBI triple for Barrett, only kept from an effective infield home run by Abel's fielding skills.

With the home team now in the lead for the first time in the game, the Mavericks' potential two-out rally came to an abrupt halt after Kristensen's walk (after seven pitches) resulted in a run, batted in superbly by Lary. Braintree, on the other hand, continued to pile pressure on the Mavericks adding on a further two runs. This total could have been a lot worse, were it not for Lary turning a double-play with a force-out at third base, then sending the ball across to Hall at second for exactly the same. After Barrett's triple in the previous inning pitcher (Bruce) and catcher Rob Wheeler decided to hand him an intentional walk, the first seen in a Mavericks game in over three seasons. With two outs and the bases loaded, this gamble paid off extremely well, as Barrett was picked off by Bruce at first base, during the next batter's appearance.

A shut-out on both side in the fifth, with Bruce picking up his third and fourth strike-outs from his total haul of ten, started to tilt the tie towards Steven Esdale's men. The Mavericks saw this opportunity to add to their total, with four runs coming courtesy of two-RBI singles from both Bruce and Wheeler, with the former following an excellent double from Kristensen. It was also the first of two walks for Ben Stobart, who replaced Yates in right field at the top of the sixth, due to a groin injury. This glimmer, like the sunshine, was short-lived, as Braintree responded with five runs, two of which came from the bat of Paul Lawless, who was only able to make it to first base, thanks to the Mavs' defence.

Despite being two runs behind, and trailing for the last three innings, the Mavericks' trademark strong finish came out at the top of the seventh. A change of pitcher for the Rays halfway through was not enough to slow Guildford, as each member of the team came home during this spell. Both Kristensen and Bruce were able to steal home, with Lary doing the same from a wild pitch. Wheeler's second, consecutive two-RBI single brought home Guerra and Hall, the latter of which sliding in under the catcher in a move that would not look out of place in break dancing contest. RBIs also came from both Abel and Kristensen walking with bases loaded, and Lary hitting the Mavericks' third sacrifice hit of the match. The Rays were only to reply with one run at the bottom end, and Guildford were firmly back into the driving seat, with only two innings remaining.

The visitors were unlucky not to add to their total, with the Braintree third pitcher in two innings, with Wheeler at Stobart being ground-out at first, with Lary popping up to second base in between. An all too brief renaissance came for Rays, putting on two runs, taking their deficit to four at the end of the eighth.

Any hope of a comeback for the Rays were dashed when four of the Mavericks came home at the start of the ninth, two of which due to Guerra. The bottom of the ninth saw the home team needing to score eight to stay in the game, which started ideally with a walk. However, the only left-handed in green, Glenn Barton, who had amassed four walks and was plugged by Bruce at his fifth and previous plate appearance, was lucky to get a dropped third strike, but Wheeler knew exactly where the ball had fallen, and ground him out at first. Guerra also took the other two remaining put-outs, with the assists coming from Bruce and finally Kristensen.

The Braintree Rays fought a close game, and only start to fall away toward the end of the game, once their opening pitcher came off the mound. A post-season friendly has already been mooted, and with the after game's social atmosphere as relaxed between the two sides as it was before the match took place, that this may not be the last meeting this year between the two sides.

The Mavericks have now earnt a semi-final tie at home to the Chelmsford Clippers who upset division winners Richmond on Sunday.

Match Report by Phill Nathan and pics by Ben Stobart