Captain proud of Maoris' passion in heavy home defeat

Captain Nathan Mitchell said he was proud of his players and their passion.

The home side fell behind to two converted tries against well-drilled opponents.

Gainsborough fought back and put up more resistance as they tried to claw their way back into the game.

Harry Beresford steered Gainsborough on to the scoresheet with a pushover try and Sean Parker halved the deficit with the conversion.

Sleaford stretched their advantage, however, with a successful penalty.

In a similar scenario to their first try, Gainsborough replied as Parker planted the ball down for a second try and converted his own score.

Unfortunately that was the final point the Maoris would score.

Sleaford went on to score two tries and converted one for a 29-14 lead.

In the second half, Gainsborough continued to make Sleaford work hard, but could not prevent the visitors from adding four tries and three conversion.

The Maoris had good defensive plays and scrummaging and also produced some good passing, showing a lot of promise.

Gainsborough’s Chris Mangan put in a man-of-the-match performance.

Vice-captain Wayne Sandall rolled back the years with a 60-yard dash to entertain the spectators.

The Maoris travel to Boston next, while the All Blacks entertain Woodhouse Giants.