Reports from the junior sections of Rhyl, Colwyn Bay, Pwllheli, Llanidloes, COBRA
Rhyl Rugby Junior Round-up 18th November 2012
Under 10’s, 11’s and 13’s were away to Llangefni; the U14’s played Llangefni at home.
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Under 10’s
Rhyl U10s defeated a brave young Llangefni team 27-0. Captain Owen Reece Jones scored three tries with another fine solo try from Callum Gardner who also converted. A try from Tobias Millar completed the scoring. Man of the match was Joshua Smith with superb tackling. Newcomer Jakob Mcmanus impressed, with Aled Jones and Connor Mckenna both excellent in the rucks.
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Under 11’s
Over the last few weeks Rhyl under 11’s have taken too long to get into the games, often conceding try’s before getting up to full speed. Their match against Llangefni followed the same pattern with the home side scoring four try’s without reply. To add to Rhyl’s woes scrum half Henry Thomas went off with a broken nose.
The second half however was a different matter. With Ewan Williams and Ossian Bradshaw-Evans leading the way with excellent rucking and Craig Koffler taking three balls against the head in the scrums, Rhyl started to dominate possession for long periods. Fly half James Fielding showed his increasing ability bring the back line into the game with a superb long range pass to Austin Webber who powered through the defence to score a superb individual try.
Llangefni replied with a score of their own to run out worthy winners 31-7.
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Under 13’s
Llangefni U13’s started the stronger team putting Rhyl under pressure, trying time and again to break down Rhyl’s defence. Full back Billy Alderson was always on hand however to make vital and crunching tackles at the right time. Alderson also scored Rhyl’s first try of the game intercepted a loose ball and running half the length of pitch to score in the 22nd minute.
From the restart Llangefni came back and caught Rhyl sleeping scoring a try with a conversion in the final minute of the first half. The second half saw a very skilful and determined Rhyl side come out with excellent counter rucking and scrums.
Rhyl’s persistence paid off eventually, enabling Harry Wasdell to punch a hole in the Llangefni defence putting over Rhyl’s second try of the match. All off the Rhyl team gave 100% throughout the second half. However man off the match went to Billy Alderson for his outstanding efforts and never say die attitude. Final score Llangefni 7 - Rhyl 10
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Under 15’s
Rhyl 39 - Llangefni 24
Rhyl U15’s hosted Llangefni at the Waen and got off to a flying start with prop Will Larter crashing over the whitewash from close range. Next on the score sheet was fellow prop Sam Wainright before winger Sam Guataman grabbed one for the backs. Llangefni closed the first half with a try from their flying winger. Llangefni opened the second half as they finished the first with a converted try before Max Copeland replied two try’s in quick succession. Llangefni scored again before Rhyl captain Tom Yates brought procedures to an end with a try after a superb break. Full back Tom Jones added six points from the boot.
*****
COLWYN BAY Under 13's 5 v PWLLHELI Under 13's 36
Peter Jones led his much improved team by example in robust defence against a strong physical and capable Pwllheli team.
Although the Bay leaked four tries in the first half there was some great defence work particularly from the back row in Seb Marshall, Nicholas Young and Sam Holt.
The Bay came out with more confidence in the second half and from the first lineout Nicholas Young drove for the line supported by the rest of the pack and crashed over for a well deserved team try. The defence and intensity in the ruck was evident thereafter as Pwllheli looked to reinforce their dominance but were resisted well by excellent work from Joe Kilpatrick in the tight and Nye Michael, Sam Earl-Jones, Sion Edwards and Peter Jones whose line speed and co-ordination was effective in holdoing the line..
Many of the Bay players can be justifiably proud of their performance and improvement as a team against this tough opposition.
Man of the Match: Peter Jones’ inspirational leadership of the team and an imposing personal performance – well done Pete.
Try scorers: Nicholas Young.
*****
Colwyn Bay Under 16 15 v Pwllheli Under 16 18
Colwyn Bay had their first defeat of the season in what turned out to be a fiercely fought, close but ultimately frustrating game. Bay started off playing as they have done all season in the first 15 minutes, dominating play in the forwards, driving back the visitors and spinning the ball wide to good effect.
After good pressure this resulted in the first try for Bay, with Kieran Smith going in at the corner after nifty and precise handling from the backs. Bay continued the pressure and shortly after, with Remy Shiel going agonisingly close with a sniping run, good recycling and a quick ball to prop David Edwards allowed him to get over the line to double the score to 10-0, both conversions being missed.
The game looked comfortable at this point but this only served to galvanise Pwllheli who then took over the running of the game, getting to the breakdown faster, winning any loose ball and starting to impress with their slick handling and strong tackling. Bay also seemed to suffer a loss of confidence and resorted to kicking away far too much ball when possession through the hands was the better option, which only led to Pwllheli just running it straight back at them. It was a poor kick out of defence by the home side which led to Pwllheli's first try, narrowing the lead to just five points.
Bay also started to concede too many penalties, diving in, going offside and handling on the floor which meant they were forever on the back foot. A penalty for ill discipline right in front of the posts on the stroke of half time was nicely converted meaning Bays lead at the break was only 2 points, 10-8.
The second half started as the first ended, penalties galore being conceded and good running breaks squandered by kicking the ball straight to the opposition. Temporarily down to 14 men for a high tackle, Bay had to dig in deep and there was a lot of good work done, with some fierce tackling, to prevent the visitors scoring, but Pwllheli were by now the better team and thoroughly deserved two further scores, one from a forwards drive from 5 yards, the second a counter attack down the wing, after yet another Bay kick out of defence was punished. At 18-10 to Pwllheli though, the Bay spirit once again got going and they dominated the last 15 minutes, with a number of good scoring chances, with Luke Rawicki unlucky not to be able to quite pick up a pass down by his feet which would have been a score had he collected it, and Harri Chinery-Parkes not quite able to reach a kick through the Pwllheli defence before it went dead. With 5 minutes to go Bays forward pressure finally told when David Edwards managed to rumble his way across the line for his second try to make it 15-18, but despite Bay continuing to look like the only side that would now score, Pwllheli's defence was good enough for them to hold onto the victory, which on the balance of the whole game they deserved.
A shame to lose the unbeaten record but too many basic errors, penalties and kicking probably led to this. That said, there continued to be great periods of play on show by the boys which displayed why they are such a tough team to play against and they were only one score from a win despite a generally under par performance. Nant Conwy next week and we are confident they will bounce back to their best.
*****
A game of two halves...
By andy joynson | Monday 19th November 2012
Solid first half effort undermined in the second
COBRA Under 15 43 v 5 Llanidloes Under 15
Over to Meifod on a beautiful, autumnal Sunday morning with almost the core side for the U15's… a couple of key players were missing but cover was supplied by a few players from the U14's. A close result in the start of season festival pointed towards a cracking game of rugby with the boys seemingly ready to rock and roll with COBRA.
Inspired by some lead coach input (Mark James), Llani were focussed, intense and up for a game. The opening 20 minutes were quite something. Good defensive lines, aggression in the contact area, sensible ball distribution and nip and tuck around the scrummage. From both sides. The contest was very even and Llani were playing their best rugby for quite a while.
One try a piece for both sides just about summed up the overall state of play for the first half but Llani very lucky not to concede another when the COBRA 10 run over try area!
The onset of the second half saw COBRA score early and begin to dominate. The COBRA outside half, not the fastest player in the game, had a good rugby brain and set off his backs with some aplomb. Previous parity at the scrummage disappeared with an early yellow card as did simple discipline. Some of the decision making was poor but Llani couldn't be faulted for effort. COBRA ran in a few more tries and heads then began to drop.
The score really doesn't reflect the teams… COBRA were more organised but not a very much better team. More luck with Builth in a fortnight.
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