All Whites prove too strong for RGC at Eirias in front of over 1000 spectators.
With a crowd of over 1000 in Eirias and what must be the longest guard of honour in history, the scene was set for a clash of second against third place in the Championship.
Swansea were first out of the blocks, playing against the strong wind, and taking a second minute lead through their impressive full back, Nicky Thomas. He converted his own try to give the Whites a 0-7 lead.
For the opening quarter, the visitors had the majority of possession and territory and were preventing RGC from gaining any momentum. There were anxious looks in the crowd during this opening quarter when the home pack were pushed off their own ball at a scrum. However, the young Gogs stuck to their task during the game in the ‘engine room’ and roles were reversed on a number of occasions as the home side ‘got the nudge on’ in the set piece.
RGC’s hopes were raised as Rhodri Carlton-Jones slotted over a penalty on twenty minutes but this closing of the gap was short-lived as Swansea stretched their lead with a well-worked try after 23 minutes, scored by scrum half Scott Maynard, to lead 3-12.
This score, along with some vociferous support from the home crowd, stung the home side in to life and a couple of great breaks, one by Afon Bagshaw in particular, failed just short of the line with some stout defending by the All Whites.
With half time approaching, the crowd were then treated to a points bonanza as first Mike Sully crossed for the visitors, converted by Nicky Thomas to go 3-19 ahead, then Kelvin Davies twisted and fought his way over the line for the first RGC try, excellently converted in the swirling wind by Rhodri Carlton Jones to bring the scores to 10-19.
Back came Swansea and, on the stroke of half time, Mark Bennett Jones scored the all-important, bonus winning fourth try, converted by Nicky Thomas, to give a commanding 10-26 interval lead.
If the crowd thought this try scoring spree would continue in to the second half they were disappointed as a period of scrappy play ensued before full back, Afon Bagshaw, gave the crowd something to shout about with a try, converted by Rhodri Carlton Jones to make it 17-26 after 58 minutes.
With the floodlights on and the temperature dropping rapidly, it took a blast of ‘Calon Lan’ and a few chants of ‘RGC RGC’ to warm everybody up.
On the field, Swansea regained the initiative and it was no surprise after 65 minutes when Ged Evans crossed for a try, again converted by Nicky Thomas to make it 17-33.
Thomas slotted over a couple more penalties in the next five minutes to extend the lead to 17-39 and then spoilt his match-winning performance by finding himself in the cooler for ten minutes.
The game petered out in the final few minutes and the referee brought proceedings to an end on what was a pretty impressive performance by the visitors with a final scoreline of 17-39.
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