Fixture

First of all, I think it’s very important that we mention the fact the boys were adamant before the game that we would wear a black armband in memory of a close friend, Jonny Thomas. The boys put in a great performance, and dedicate the win to him and his family.

The plan leading into the game was clear – Tregaron were sitting at the bottom of the table, a very similar position to ourselves last year, so we knew how they felt. They were going to do whatever it took to get a win, and they were coming into this game with confidence. The conditions suited them, gusty winds, meaning both teams would try and keep it tight. Our plan was to be patient, strong in defence against their pressure, see the first half through against the wind, turn on the gas and play rugby in the second half.

Tregaron’s pressure finally paid off as good play from their back three, and some discipline errors on our behalf, send the hosts 7-0 with a penalty try. The boys responded well, numerous chances available to score but we weren’t as clinical as we would have liked. Suddenly, a miss kick to touch helped our back three along with Lee Rimell to put Matthew Flynn in the corner for our first. Tregaron 7 – 7 Mumbles.

The hosts outside half kept their scoreboard ticking, capitalising on our discipline, kicking 2 penalties. A superb driving maul from the pack took us from their 22 all the way to their 5 metre, where Andrew Evans was quick to pounce and get over the whitewash. Joe Rimell was unlucky to be caught at the end of a few penalties, which resulted in him sitting off for 10 minutes, where the hosts took their points. Tregaron 16 – Mumbles 15. Just before half time, again from the pressure of the driving maul, Tregaron pack collapsing and the referee awarding a penalty try. Unfortunately, Stuart Fletcher got injured in the build up, and has ended up in crutches and a brace around his knee. We wish him a speedy recovery. Tregaron 16 – 21 Mumbles Half Time.

Half time team talk was very simple – we spent most of the half defending, and we needed to use the conditions to our advantage and play the ball in their half, and our penalty count was too high, which stopped soon enough.

As soon as 50 minutes passed, and a few changes in the team, we were on fire. Our handling drills in training was blatant in some our tries, plays and build ups. The boys, 1 to 15 looked confident with the ball in hand, and our passing was accurate. Matthew Reeves, Adam Nicklin, Lee Rimell, Neil Elworthy and I all bagging tries in the space of 16 minutes. The pack was dominating set plays, the ball was getting out of the ruck fast and sharp, and the hosts couldn’t live with the pace of our backline. We were playing with confidence. A special mention needs to be made to James Griffiths, or Podge, who came on at 9 just after the break. For a youth player to come into a team and start with a bang like he did, with some great play with ball in hand, linking with both backs and forwards, and setting up a few tries, I felt his performance, even with only 30 minutes played, was worth a mention.

The final score was 16 – 50, and with all the confidence we could take from our attacking play, I felt we should take some great pride in the fact we conceded 0 points in the second half. A massive boost for us, taking us 3^rd in the league, but the difficult task is staying near the top through Christmas, and coming out with a bang for the second half of the season. Our next game in Carmarthen Athletic at Underhill, a huge challenge for us. Both teams coming down from division 1, and with our recent loss in the league against Pontarddulais, we would like to get back to winning ways at home.