The East Kent Mavericks claimed their first win of the season and ended a 10-game losing streak with a 20-8 win on the road at Cambridgeshire Cats on Sunday.

In their first away game of the BAFA National League Southern Conference 1 season, the Mavs travelled on the back of three straight home league defeats and seven losses last season on their way to relegation from the top-flight.

Their last win came away against the Cats at the start of the 2014 campaign and despite missing several key players, including six offensive starters, they were able to earn their first victory.

The Mavericks defence began well with line backer Tom Nairn causing a fumble on the first play which was recovered by Henry Barden, the first of his two recoveries on the day.

The offence, however, weren’t able to capitalise and struggled to turn possession into points with the opening quarter ending scoreless.

The East Kent defence continued to hold while the offence finally started to make some serious progress, despite more than 100 yards being lost from penalties from ill discipline.

The deadlock was broken when quarter-back Luke Jones snuck up the middle from four yards out to reach the end zone. Jones then found receiver Rob McDonald to complete a two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.

The half ended when a poor punt from the Mavericks led to a two-point safety to cut their lead to six at the break. The second half began well for the visitors as they used a short passing game to drive up the field before Jones found McDonald – who had 10 catches for around 150 yards – with a 15-yard pass to make it 14-2, although the subsequent two-point attempt was spurned.

The Kent defence held strong thanks to some strong tackling, with Dave Squires and Henry Barden particularly impressive, as the visitors went into the final quarter 12 points ahead.

Some more good passing took the Mavericks within scoring range again before a 25-yard pass found Daniel Symons for the touchdown, with the two-point attempt again foiled.

The Cats did manage a consolation score when they gained possession 10 yards out but the visitors held on to secure victory. Next up for the Mavericks is a trip to Bedford to take on Ouse Valley on Sunday, June 14.