Another batch of match reports from games involving the clubs of North and Mid Wales.
Caernarfon 42 v COBRA 32
Following report kindly supplied by COBRA RFC.
Cobra travelled to Caernarfon hoping to bounce back from last weeks defeat to Ruthin. Unfortunately, after conceding a number of points early on at Cae Morfa, Cobra left themselves facing an uphill task; literally!!
The sloping pitch proved to be a decisive feature of the match with both sides scoring the majority of their points when running down the hill.
Caernarfon started the game with the slope on their side. The hosts started brightly and found themselves running away with the match with a number of the visiting players' minds still on the bus! A solid defence had been at the forefront of both Cobra performances so far this season; however, it was a different story early on at Cae Morfa.
With a vocal home support and gravity on their side, the hosts found themselves camped in Cobra territory for the majority of the opening 40 minutes.
With a number of players unavailable through injury and other commitments, and a few players playing in unfamiliar positions, Cobra struggled to match the home sides energy and organisation. The unavailability of 5 first team hookers proved costly as both the scrum and lineout struggled to function throughout the 80 minutes.
4 quick fire tries and a couple of penalties gave Caernarfon a handsome 30-6 lead at half time.
Knowing that they had played so poorly in the opening 40 and that their place in the side was at stake, Cobra players took 10 minutes to gather their thoughts and regain their energy.
The opening 10 minutes of the second half was very much the same story as the first. Caernarfon went wide from a scrum and a slip in the Cobra defence gifted the homeside another try.
On the wrong side of a 35-6 score line and with only around 20 minutes or so left on the clock, Cobra boys knew that there was nothing to loose and that they had to regain some pride.
Aled (Albi) Roberts was the first test the home sides defence. The rampaging prop, who had received a late call up to the side, gathered the ball 5 metres from the Caernarfon line and was met head on by the Caernarfon tighthead. The collision was like two male rhinos meeting face to face in a dark alley. Neither wanted to take a backward step but unfortunately it was the homes sides RGC based prop who came out on top on that occasion.
Cobra began to play without fear- throwing passes wide and offloading in the tackle. Alwyn Williams spotted a gap in the Caernarfon defence, pinned his ears back and headed towards the line. The scrum half was stopped just short; however, he managed to pop the ball out to Sion Wyn Williams to flop over the line.
The next to cross the whitewash was Jack Jukes. Cobra, now taking the quick tap at every opportunity hammered away at the home sides defence. The ball was passed out to Llew Williams who then found the rangy Jukes in midfield. The young number 8 broke through 2 or 3 tackles and dived over the line.
With the home crowd now silent and Cobra full of confidence the score board began to look half respectable.
Cobra's attacks were now relentless. Hywel Jones and Steven Isaac hammered away at the Caernarfon defence and with quick ball at his feet, Alwyn Williams sniped and dived his way over the whitewash.
Sion Wyn Williams then celebrated his 5th try in 3 matches. Richard Jones gathered the ball in his own half and punted the ball downfield. With no one at home for the home side it was now a footrace between Williams and the Caernarfon winger. There was only going to be one winner and that was the Cobra winger, who dived on the ball just before it went over the dead ball line.
The score board, much to the shock of everyone at Cae Morfa now read Caernarfon 35 Cobra 32.
Cobra players sensed victory and were ready to receive the kick off from Caernarfon. Steven Isaac gathered the ball safely and headed straight towards the Caernarfon pack. In the ruck that then formed, the referee spotted an infringement that bemused both Cobra players and coaches alike . Caernarfon managed to keep the ball in Cobra territory for the next few minutes and broke Cobra hearts when they scored their sixth try of the afternoon and robbed the Cobra boys of their loosing bonus point.
After the conversion, the referee signalled the end of the match.
Cobra players stood with their head in their hands. Despite going home with a 4 try bonus point in the bag, the travelling players knew that the chance for a victory, draw or loosing bonus point had been missed.
The game really was a game of two halves. Cobra will now hope that they can show the team spirit, togetherness and fearlessness that they showed in the second half in the full 80 minutes of their next fixture.
Cobra- 1. Aled Roberts, 2 Hywel Jones, 3 Steven Isaac, 4. Edward Davies, 5. Bryn Edwards, 6. Richard Rees, 7. Aled Humphreys, 8. Jack Jukes, 9. Alwyn Williams, 10. Llew Williams, 11. Lloyd Mayor, 12. Andrew Pryce, 13. Frazer Roberts, 14. Sion Wyn Williams, 15. Richard Jones
replacements- 16. Chris Robson, 17. Ieuan Williams, 18. Matt Griffiths, 19. Tom Hillidge.
Mold 8 v Llandudno 25
Following report kindly supplied by Llandudno RFC.
Llandudno travelled to Mold on Saturday looking to avenge last season’s only league defeat. But Mold started the better in the opening exchanges and their pressure was rewarded with an easy 3 point penalty.
However, this woke Llandudno up and they levelled the game at 3 a piece after their own period of pressure, through the welcome return of Luke Jones at 10. Llandudno continued with the pressure which resulted in an Elliott Crowe try, converted from wide out by Luke Jones. 10-3 at HT.
The second half started with a bit of an arm wrestle and both packs sought supremacy, but a great tackle by Nick Maxwell in the centre resulted in a Mold fumble and Llandudno quickly fed the ball to Dave Davies who raced in for the try. Luke Jones hit the upright to make the score 15-3.
From the restart Llandudno made mistakes which Mold took advantage of, and from a smart move at the front of the line-out they touched down in the corner, but failed to convert.
But that was it for the Mold scoring as Llandudno’s defence went up a level, with a combination of hard tackles and good turnovers, with Dave Davies and Lewis Jones to the fore, resulted in a 70 metres run in for Nic Maxwell. Converted by Luke Jones to make the score 22-8. More good work at the breakdown by Lewis Griffith, who was on for Elliott Crowe, resulted in an easy penalty for Luke Jones.
Man of the match for Dave Davies for his hard tackling and strong running.
Llandudno Rugby Club wish Lewis Jones all the best in Australia, and hope he comes back soon.
Report By Matthew Tyson Cole.
Next week Llandudno face Mold again in the Cup at Llandudno.
Pwllheli 26 v Bethesda 8
Following report kindly supplied by Pwllheli RFC.
A large crowd was in attendance for this much awaited match, considered a local derby by many. Both teams needed a win and opened nervously and the referee stamped his authority early by awarding both sides kickable penalties in the fifth and eighth minute, but both kickers failed to covert.
The home side exerted a lot of pressure on the visitors in their half for long periods in the first quarter and after 14 minutes No8 and captain Dafydd Anwyl forced his way over the line for the opening score. Scrum half Nic Butterworth was successful with the conversion. It was the Bethesda forwards turn to exert pressure but the home defence were determined to keep them out but conceded a penalty on 23 minutes and outside half Mathew Parry converted.
Back came Pwllheli and after another strong drive through the middle, Butterworth found his way over the line. He converted his own try to give the Llyn side a 14-3 half time score.
The physical encounter continued after the interval. Yellow cards were issued in the 14th minute reducing the numbers to 14-a-side when one second row player from each side were penalised for a scuffle and soon afterwards, Pwllheli centre Robin Hughes Jones weaved his way through the Besda defenders to score an excellent try and Butterworth added the two points for a conversion.
The visitors bounced back and put pressure on the home defence yielding another home team yellow card and eventually substitute Arwyn Griffith reached over the line in the corner for the visitors. The conversion attempt failed and with ten minutes of the game left, neither side were allowed to relax and whilst Pwllheli were attempting to earn a bonus point by scoring another try, Bethesda were defiant and attempting to at least close the gap to earning a losing bonus point by scoring a seven pointer.
Late in the match, after another onslaught by the home side, Hughes Jones again mesmerised the defence to score his second wide out to give a final score of 26-8 and five valuable league points to the home side.
Next week is Swalec Plate and Bowl weekend and Bethesda will face Caernarfon at Y Morfa in the Plate whilst Pwllheli have been given a bye.
Gele Back On Track Following Impressive Result
Newtown 10 v Abergele 46
Match report and stats kindly supplied by Ian Harrison.
Last season the three matches between these two teams saw nearly 160 points scored, so a high scoring, hard fought game was expected. As the Newtown Chairman said in the match programme Newtown “We’re out to reverse the trend against our visitors” whilst Gele were out to show that last week’s result against Llangefni did not fully reflect the way they have started the season.
The Gele forwards quickly established a dominance they held for the whole 80 minutes and after 8 minutes it won them a penalty that Danny Lawrence converted from distance. From the kick off the Newtown backs probed the Gele back line with a kick over their heads on the right hand side which was dealt with comfortably. After regaining possession the Newtown fly half kicked again to the left, this time the bounce was kind to the attacking winger who gathered the wickedly bouncing ball and ran in under the posts. The try was converted to make it 10 – 3 to the home side.
Gele responded with some great forward play but could not break the Newtown line either knocking on or taking the wrong options at the crucial moment. However, on 23 minutes it was the dominance from Gele at a scrum near the line that the referee tired of the Newtown tactics and awarded a penalty try as they infringed at a scrum. Ian Marshall converted to make the score 10-7 to Gele. Ten minutes later another scrum on the right saw the ball out to the backs, stand in fly half Sean Condon orchestrated a well worked move for Danny Lawrence to slice through the defence and go over under the posts for a try he converted himself, 17-7. Almost immediately Gele gave away a penalty 25m out that Newtown converted to make the half-time score 17-10.
The score did not reflect the domination that Gele had during the first half that would have seen Gele out of sight if it wasn’t for a combination of wrong options, handling and resolute defence from Newtown. The second half continued in the same vein but this time Gele were able to break the Newtown line almost at will with the home side only getting out of their own half with kicks from defence. On 47 minutes ruck ball on the left was played quickly across the backs, a neat offload by second row Gareth Beach allowed outside centre Danny Lawrence to feed right wing Jack Gronow who went over in the corner taking a few Newtown played with him in the process. The conversion was missed and the score was 22-10.
Five minutes later a scrum was won against the head in the Newtown 22 and after some phase play Jon Evans went over near the posts and Danny Lawrence converted for a 29-10 scoreline. Full back Richie Williams left the field due to injury, was replaced by Chris Meyers. This forced a shuffle of the backs with Chris Frost going to Full back and Llion Mortimor going oo the left wing from his usual flank position. On 62 minutes Newtown infringed again and the referee showed his displeasure by yellow-carding the Newtown player. Danny Lawrence converted the penalty from in front of the posts for a 32-10 score. Almost immediately after, Lawrence got a yellow-card himself for not releasing the tackled player during a rare Newtown foray into the Gele 22.
At this stage Gele were winning scrums against the head regularly and it was from one of these that Ian Marshall made a telling break slipping the ball to Gethin Jones who went over the line. Ian Marshall then converted the try almost from the left hand touchline – 39-10. Another scrum against the head five minutes later saw John Evans go over to give Marshall and easier kick to make it 46-10 at the end and give Gele a 6-try bonus point win.
This was another good all round performance with the forwards dominating the loose and tight play, although not doing so well in their usual strong area the lineout. The balls the forwards won was well used by the backs who were making numerous line breaks. It is difficult to single out good performances as there were so many but MOM Ian Marshall excelled, adding to his fine start to the season.
This takes Gele’s tally to 11 points form three away games, which is a good start to the season. The 1st XV now have a rest from their league duties, until their first home game against Colwyn Bay on 4th October when the Clubhouse will be officially opened following recent refurbishments throughout the existing building. Next week is another long away trip for the squad as they have a match at Llanidloes in the Intermediate Cup and need to maintain their winning ways against a side riding high in Division 3.
There are no events to show yet.