News

14 October 2018 / Club News

1ST XV MATCH REPORT 13TH oCTOBER 2018

 Bridgend Athletic v Mountain Ash

                                                             23 -20

       National League Division 1 East Central, Saturday , 13th. Oct. 2018

 

With storm Callum battering the south Wales region it was a pleasant surprise to find that   Newbridge  Fields was in  excellent condition to welcome visitors Mountain Ash.

The “Old Firm” must have felt totally disgruntled post match, having secured two bonus points with four unconverted tries and finishing within  a three points deficit. However the Athletic persevered with their penalty opportunities and kicked their two try conversions to take a hard fought victory .Winger Robin Davies shone with five well taken kicks in blustery wind conditions.

The  “Ath “ had to make several changes to the selected fifteen with Aled Thomas taking over the full back role ,captain Ben Howe replacing Tom Jenkins in the center and Luke Williams joining the back row.

Mountain Ash started at a furious pace and within ten minutes came close to scoring on two occasions. Things somewhat overheated when visiting captain Jarrod Parfitt was sin binned for taking out lock Jon Stoker illegally in a lineout and for subsequent  dissent towards the referee .However they quickly took the lead when nippy scrum half Ross Davies went over from close range. The home side struck back with excellent interplay between fullback Thomas and winger Robin Davies to take play deep into the Mountain Ash half. Two five metre scrums in succession saw standoff Sam Richards shimmy his way over to level the score with a try to the right of the uprights. Robin Davies converted to give the Athletic a 7-5 lead.  The “The Old Firm” resumed their offensive but a fine tackle by full back Aled Thomas prevented lock Parfitt from grounding underneath the posts .However within a minute they regained the lead when scrum half Davies crossed for his second try. The conversion struck the post to deny them the extra two points. From the kick off the home side struck back and Sam Richards crossed after creating an opening, but the try was disallowed for apparent crossing by the referee.   Mountain Ash had a series of kickable penalties and opted in the main to kick for the corner and use their driving maul tactic but was repelled on each occasion by a resolute home defence. The visitors finished stronger in the first half with full back  Kieran Davies crossing but the try was not converted giving them a 7-15 first half lead.

Things got heated early in the second half with referee Jonathan Walters of Swansea giving a general warning to both teams .Athletic introduced substitutes Nathan Holman and Will Petchell which resulted in raising the momentum .Davies kicked his first of three second half penalties in difficult blustery conditions to put his side within five points .From the kick off the visitors took play to the “Ath” twenty metre line but a dropped pass enabled centre Chris Price to hack on and take play up field and good recycling enabled out of position captain Ben Howe to eventually touch down for his fourth try of the season for full back Davies to convert. Regaining the lead , with twenty minutes remaining,  Robin Davies landing his second and third penalties, giving him a season’s total of 54 points , things looked good for a comfortable end  to the game  for the green and gold home side .More drama however  was to come when lock Jon Stoker was yellow carded by the referee for an over zealous tackle. Mountain Ash spurned several kickable penalties again opting for the five metre lineout. With five minutes of play left captain Jarrod Parfitt drove over from close range to bring the score to 23-20.The conversion again being unsuccessful .Mountain Ash resumed their attacks on the Athletic line from the kick off and further five metre lineouts sent their supporters into raptures when a try attempt sent them jumping into the air for what was thought to be a match winning score only for the referee to blow his whistle to end the match with a knock on decision.

A narrow but deserved victory because the Athletic kicked their penalties and conversions whilst the visitors spurned countless attempts and failed with their conversion attempts.

Summing up coach Stuart Morris commented “a much improved effort and attitude from our last game at Rumney , but there is  still room for improvement”

The next fixture is away to Porth Harlequins , Saturday 20th. October 2018

  

There doesn't appear to be any tagged photos.

Upload and Tag Photos

Comment
You must be signed in to add comments
Comments
|