News

Both sides seemed to be suffering New Year hangovers and the effects of tough previous week’s local derbys against Maesteg Quins and Tondu respectively as Bridgend Athletic ground out a 17-10 win at the Old Parish in another Division 1West Central derby.

Both sides were forced to make changes for this encounter. The Athletic started with 7 different personnel to the Tondu game with the most significant injuries suffered in that game being a broken jaw for scrum half Dan James and a head injury to lock Ben Cordin.

The opening 30 minutes saw a stalemate with the Athletic on top territorially but lacking the intensity to break down a resolute home defence. Surprisingly in a tight game with outside half Luke Bevan landing 6 kicks against Tondu, they opted to forgo two kickable penalties to go for 5 metre driving lineouts, which the home side easily contained. Maesteg broke out and were awarded a penalty at a ruck which outside half Tadjh Mc Gluckin converted to break the deadlock.

From the restart the Athletic turned over ball 35 metres from the Maesteg try line. No 8 Sean Williams broke clean through the midfield, drew the full back and handed a scoring pass to flanker Sam Treharne to cross under the posts for his opening try of the season. Bevan converted.

The lead was short lived as Maesteg pounced on a dropped ball just inside the Athletic half for quick passing to release speedy wing Callum Powell to outpace the Athletic cover and cross near the posts. McGluckin’s conversion gave the Old Parish side a 10-7 half time lead.

The second half pattern followed the first. The Athletic were on top in the scums with prop Matt Muir out of position and hooker Nathan Holman Matthew Norman, but were unable to get their driving maul going or dominate the line outs as Maesteg’s locks Ethan Davies and Gavin Ronan and No 8 Cameron Davies cancelled out the Athletic. Only No 8 Sean Williams was making an impression in this set piece. Resolute Maesteg  defence aligned to uncharacteristic Athletic errors and game management looked like seeing out the game for the home side.

The Athletic brought on hooker Lee Murphy, Cameron Thomas and Gareth Bartlett to inject more energy into the performance. Thomas was particularly lively urging others to match his intensity. With 10 minutes remaining the Athletic pressure paid off with Maesteg penalised for hands in a ruck. This time Bevan was asked to kick at goal and he levelled the scores with a well struck penalty.

With the Maesteg pack tiring the game was mostly played inside the home half. However, it took a charge down by the outstanding Sean Williams to provide the killer touch. He regathered his charge down on half way and made ground before Thomas and wing Robin Davies took the move to within 10 metres of the try line. The Athletic regained possession from the ruck and scrum half Aled Thomas fed flanker and captain Ben Howe to force his way over in the corner. Bevan’s touchline conversion put the Athletic 17-10 ahead with four minutes remaining. The Athletic showed good game management to see out the game. It was not pretty but kept their six-match winning streak going and showed the signs of a good side to win when playing below par.

Athletic Team Manager Paul Hearne commented “The coaches are pleased that with seven changes to the starting line up the Athletic showed character to grind out a win in a less than memorable game. Matt Muir playing out of position at tight head prop, captain Ben Howe and centre Stuart Floyd-Ellis had good games. The introduction of hooker Lee Murphy and especially flanker Cameron Thomas lifted the energy of the team, inspiring others to go on and win the game. However, the stand out performer was Man of the Match Sean Williams who stood out like a beacon and was head and shoulders above anybody else on the field, contributing significantly to both Athletic tries.”

With this week’s potential league fixture against Ystalyfera postponed due to Fera playing in the National Plate Cup the Athletics’ next game is home at the Morganstone Brewery Field on Jan 20^th when Waunarllwydd provide the opposition.

Both sides seemed to be suffering New Year hangovers and the effects of tough previous week’s local derbys against Maesteg Quins and Tondu respectively as Bridgend Athletic ground out a 17-10 win at the Old Parish in another Division 1West Central derby.

Both sides were forced to make changes for this encounter. The Athletic started with 7 different personnel to the Tondu game with the most significant injuries suffered in that game being a broken jaw for scrum half Dan James and a head injury to lock Ben Cordin.

The opening 30 minutes saw a stalemate with the Athletic on top territorially but lacking the intensity to break down a resolute home defence. Surprisingly in a tight game with outside half Luke Bevan landing 6 kicks against Tondu, they opted to forgo two kickable penalties to go for 5 metre driving lineouts, which the home side easily contained. Maesteg broke out and were awarded a penalty at a ruck which outside half Tadjh Mc Gluckin converted to break the deadlock.

From the restart the Athletic turned over ball 35 metres from the Maesteg try line. No 8 Sean Williams broke clean through the midfield, drew the full back and handed a scoring pass to flanker Sam Treharne to cross under the posts for his opening try of the season. Bevan converted.

The lead was short lived as Maesteg pounced on a dropped ball just inside the Athletic half for quick passing to release speedy wing Callum Powell to outpace the Athletic cover and cross near the posts. McGluckin’s conversion gave the Old Parish side a 10-7 half time lead.

The second half pattern followed the first. The Athletic were on top in the scums with prop Matt Muir out of position and hooker Nathan Holman Matthew Norman, but were unable to get their driving maul going or dominate the line outs as Maesteg’s locks Ethan Davies and Gavin Ronan and No 8 Cameron Davies cancelled out the Athletic. Only No 8 Sean Williams was making an impression in this set piece. Resolute Maesteg  defence aligned to uncharacteristic Athletic errors and game management looked like seeing out the game for the home side.

The Athletic brought on hooker Lee Murphy, Cameron Thomas and Gareth Bartlett to inject more energy into the performance. Thomas was particularly lively urging others to match his intensity. With 10 minutes remaining the Athletic pressure paid off with Maesteg penalised for hands in a ruck. This time Bevan was asked to kick at goal and he levelled the scores with a well struck penalty.

With the Maesteg pack tiring the game was mostly played inside the home half. However, it took a charge down by the outstanding Sean Williams to provide the killer touch. He regathered his charge down on half way and made ground before Thomas and wing Robin Davies took the move to within 10 metres of the try line. The Athletic regained possession from the ruck and scrum half Aled Thomas fed flanker and captain Ben Howe to force his way over in the corner. Bevan’s touchline conversion put the Athletic 17-10 ahead with four minutes remaining. The Athletic showed good game management to see out the game. It was not pretty but kept their six-match winning streak going and showed the signs of a good side to win when playing below par.

Athletic Team Manager Paul Hearne commented “The coaches are pleased that with seven changes to the starting line up the Athletic showed character to grind out a win in a less than memorable game. Matt Muir playing out of position at tight head prop, captain Ben Howe and centre Stuart Floyd-Ellis had good games. The introduction of hooker Lee Murphy and especially flanker Cameron Thomas lifted the energy of the team, inspiring others to go on and win the game. However, the stand out performer was Man of the Match Sean Williams who stood out like a beacon and was head and shoulders above anybody else on the field, contributing significantly to both Athletic tries.”

With this week’s potential league fixture against Ystalyfera postponed due to Fera playing in the National Plate Cup the Athletics’ next game is home at the Morganstone Brewery Field on Jan 20^th when Waunarllwydd provide the opposition.