Fixture

Treherbert RFC | 1st Team

3 - 10

Taffs Well RFC | 1st Team

Match Report

15 January 2017 / Team News

Late Penalty Try Seals 10-3 Quarter Final Place for Taff’s Well

Taff’s Well expected a tough 5^th round cup match and that’s exactly what they got in front of a good sized crowd and on a pitch that was never going to be conducive to running rugby. Treherbert may not be having the best of seasons but they were never going to lie down at home, especially when there was quarter-final place at stake and they were to push Taff’s Well all the way to the final whistle in a game which failed to live up to its expectations due to weather conditions and handling errors.

As the game kicked off, Taff’s Well were to look the livelier and thanks to two good busts by No8 Max Watkins and centre Justin Jones, new acquisition and outside-half Rhys Lott was presented with the early opportunity to open the scoring with a penalty shot from 25m which he duly converted. The early omens were looking good as the Taff’s Well eight were starting to get on top in the scrums and Treherbert No8 Lloyd Batstone was being forced to work hard to secure ball from a retreating scrum but he did it with distinction as the Taff’s Well back-row and scrum-half Gwilym Edwards poured all over him. With some good possession, the visitors were able to get the ball along the line looking to put burly left-winger Gavin Close clean away but the try-scoring machine wasn’t able to hold on and a great opportunity went begging as the open field lay before him.

Although Taff’s Well were looking the side most likely to score, Treherbert were operating better in the lineouts and every time the visitors were in touching distance of the home line, the ball was either stolen or Taff’s Well were penalised for a misdemeanour – referee Ryan Lewis joining the long list of referees who have lost patience with the Taff’s Well code of rugby ethics especially when it comes to the interpretation of the breakdown laws. Captain Gareth Gibbs was leading by example and flanker Rhys Watkins was the standout in the first half as the make-up of the pack was temporally hit by the yellow carding of hooker Matthew Desmier for a high tackle which meant replacement hooker Lloyd James replaced debutant winger Kyle Baker to make the full complement in the Taff's Well eight. The first half was to fizzle out with a 3-0 lead to Taff’s Well which was very frustrating from the visitors point of view as they had had the wind and rain at their backs but to due to some poor kicking options, penalties and a miss-firing lineout, they found themselves with a stiff task if they were to close out the game.

First half score: Treherbert 0 v 3 Taff’s Well

Second-half

From the kick-off, Taff’s Well full-back Ronan Barratt was able to gather a kick and stretch his legs to show what he can do given space but the move was to break down with some accidental crossing and to compound the frustration, Taff’s Well were penalised for a further crime for home kicker and wing Jamie Evans to fire over an equalising penalty to tie the scores and set the scene for a proper cup tie. From this point, Treherbert were to edge back into the game as they started to get some quality possession which was to not only to turn into territory but a succession of kickable penalties. The cup gods must have almost certainly been on Taff’s Well’s side even if it appeared that the referee wasn’t as Treherbert were to spurn a host of chances as they struggled to bisect the posts which would ultimately prove to be so costly for them in view of the result.

Even though the lineout was proving to be troublesome for the visitors, second-row Jonathan Barry and Lewis Edwards were wearing their hearts on their sleeves in the loose as they battled against a battling home eight and the conditions which were to ultimately put paid to the game as a spectacle but as in so many cases, the bad weather just ramps up the cup excitement in a low scoring contest and the tension just continued to build as the travelling fans found it difficult to come to terms with the fact that they weren’t actually on the pitch themselves.

This season has seen the strength of the Taff’s Well bench being the difference between winning and losing on several occasions and coach Axel Rees had the luxury of bringing on second-row Darryl Mota and hooker Lloyd James who were to give more impetus up front but even though the scrum was to be become the defining point in the game, there were far too many unforced errors, poor kicking and perhaps not playing to the conditions that were to make life so difficult from the Taff’s Well perspective and that’s not taking anything away from the likes of Treherbert flanker Lewis Murphy, second-row Ross Barclay and scrum-half Captain Sam Hodder who wore their club badge with pride throughout the afternoon in amongst what will go down as a stirring performance from the high altitude village side.

There were always glimpses of what Taff’s Well were capable of in terms of breaking the line as Jones, Barrett and Close looked dangerous on occasions only to be let down by poor handling or decision making and it was always probable that the pack were going to be asked to provide a match winning moment if Taff’s Well were to have an interest in the draw for the next round. With the game looking to go towards extra time, Taff’s Well were able to apply pressure 10m from the Treherbert line and win a scrum from which they were able power forward and win a penalty with the obvious choice always going to be to opt for another scrum which again, Taff’s Well powered forward to win another penalty; there wasn’t a person in the ground who was now not aware that the next scrum was likely to be the pivotal moment of the match as the two packs locked horns.

Cometh the moment cometh the front row for as the ball was fed, the front row of props Graeme Harvey, Gareth Gibbs and substitute hooker James provided the cornerstone for a match-winning eight man shunt as referee Lewis ran underneath the posts to award a quarter-final clinching penalty try with Lott adding the extras much to the huge disappointment of the Treherbert ranks who were then subjected to the rare sight of a penalty being awarded to Taff’s Well straight from the kick-off as Treherbert full-back Jay Walsey was yellow carded for having a somewhat different interpretation to the penalty try decision. Taff’s Well were subsequently able to comfortably hold on for the remaining few minutes having learnt the art of playing to the whistle and despite a disappointing performance, will be joining the other seven clubs in the quarter-final draw.

The Verdict

Weather aside, this was not a great match for the spectators but it still managed to somehow conjure up the customary spills and thrills that an edition of Boy’s Own would throw in as part of any cup plot. You somehow sensed that Taff’s Well always had another gear to go up but that didn’t translate onto the pitch where the two packs fought hammer and tongs in coming to terms with the weather and playing surface. Although the Taff’s Well defence prevented the home side from ever seriously threatening the visitor’s line, Treherbert can pat themselves on the back for pressurising Taff’s Well into a raft of mistakes and if the penalties had been converted, who knows what the outcome might have been.

For the home side, Captain Sam Hodder cajoled his forwards around the park and proved to be a handful for the Taff’s Well back-row with Ross Barclay and Lewis Murphy always in the thick of the action in a pack that competed until the last. Taff’s Well will be disappointed that they could not translate the first half superiority into points especially as Treherbert did not manage to transgress the Taff’s Well 22 until the 28^th minute which meant that Treherbert fought their way back to earn themselves several penalty shots but were to be ultimately undone by a dominating scrummaging display.

Much praise must go to the performance of the front row of Gibbs, Harvey, Desmier and James in the set-piece and especially of Gibbs in the loose and defence, and the faulty lineout will hopefully be put down to the weather although Treherbert did manage to put plenty of pressure on in that department. There were glimpses in the backs of what could be done with ball in hand but they were only glimpses as the movements couldn’t be finished off due to handling errors or poor decision making with the conditions being but part of the reasons why Taff’s Well were unable to produce any fluidity behind.

Nevertheless, Taff’s Well have for the second week running, played to the final whistle and have got their just rewards by finding a way to win and this attitude was typified no better than by the efforts of my Man-of-the-Match Rhys Watkins who’s performance at flanker was highlighted by an impressive first half during a match in which he was constantly a thorn in the side of a commiteed Treherbert side which couldn’t quite conjure up enough menace to get over the line.

Final score: Treherbert 3 – 10 Taff’s Well

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Dave Beese davecbwales@gmail.com