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 Cilfynydd were out of the starting blocks quickly in this Taff Rhondda & District Youth Plate Competition fixture in front of another good home crowd and looked as if they meant business but it was Taff’s Well against the run of play who made the most of a speculative Brandon Thrasher kick from outside-half which the Cil’ full-back failed to field leading to a simple hack through and dab down for Taff’s Well winger Cory Scanlon and an early lead of 7-0 as scrum-half Thomas Cattle added the necessaries. With the game struggling to get any fluidity as the two packs tried to sort out the bragging rights, Cil’ were getting the better of the half and after some good ball retention, the pack won a penalty which was converted into an attacking lineout from which play was taken up in front of the home posts and back along the line for a good try as the Cil’ hooker dived in at the right-hand corner with the conversion being unluckily missed as the ball bounced of the cross-bar.

No8 ‘Tito’ Prescott was again proving to be the scourge of would-be tacklers and he found himself on the end of a pass from a penalty within the Cil’ 22 but just as he crossed the line, he was desperately robbed of possession and a certain try went begging. To make things worse, he was to be yellow carded for pulling back, but rather than struggle, Taff’s Well were now starting to get into gear with the backs starting to make good ground although the movements were breaking down when final passes could and should have been made to put the slippery Taff’s Well wingers away. After knocking on and conceding a scrum on the home 10m line, the Taff’s Well pack upped their game and stole possession which enabled winger Corey Scanlon to scorch across the midfield and tee up a great pass for full-back Gethin Richards to tear away and score a super try to stretch the lead to 12-5 as Cattle’s conversion attempt agonisingly bounced of the upright.

         Half-Time Score:   Taff’s Well Youth 12 v 5 Cilfynydd Youth

                                             Second-half

With scum-half Cattle getting more and more into the game, Taff’s Well were looking more dangerous and after a great move down the left, flanker Dewi Shapland-Davies broke the cover defence to cross wide out only to be brought for a foot in touch. Shapland-Davies was following up his exploits from the previous game and getting in a ton of work as he both defended aggressively and was able to take the game to the visitors defence with his electric pace which was starting to trouble the Cil’ defence. The forwards were now starting to get some quality possession  which enabled the exciting Taff’s Well backline to make a serious of telling breaks without managing to finish them off as all too often, the final pass failed to be delivered.

With yet another incursion into the Cil’ 22, the ball was nicely worked through the Taff’s Well backs to force another desperate tackle to snuff the danger but from the resultant scrum, the pressure was again applied only for the ball to be robbed on the line again as it looked like another certain try. With the referee disagreeing with the Taff’s Well point of view, second-row Morgan Decaro was yellow carded for not rolling away which must have given Cil’ some hope of getting back into the game but the Taff’s Well seven stuck to their guns to put enough pressure on the visitor’s to again fail to field a speculative kick which was pounced on and fed to exciting prospect Jack Shaddick who already has played several times for the 1^st XV this season to race away and score under the posts for Cattle to add the extra two points and a more comfortable looking lead of 19-5.

With a safer looking score-line, Taff’s Well continued to look dangerous despite Cilfynydd having their moments in attack but the home backs always looked as if they had the upper hand and could have easily have added to the try tally with a little bit more composure and vision but the game was to finish at 19-5 and Taff’s Well were comfortably through to the next round of the cup.

              Final Score:   Taff’s Well Youth 19 v 5 Cilfynydd Youth

The Verdict

Despite a strong start and several good performances from the Cil’ eight, Taff’s Well always looked to have the edge, for as the two packs went toe-to-toe, the home backline always looked the stronger with ball in hand with plenty of runners able to run from deep and cause chaos in the Cil’ ranks. Thomas Cattle worked hard at scrum-half all night with a number of the backs including Jack Shaddick and Cory Scanlon catching the eye behind but if only the ball could have gone a little wider at times, life would have been that much less fraught. Up front, the Taff’s Well eight had to fight against determined adversaries with props Adam Payne and Joshua Harding showing up well in the set-pieces and in the loose but the stand-out for me on the night was flanker Dewi Shapland-Davies who didn’t take a backward step all night despite what he gave away in size to the Cil’ lads.

Dave Beese    davecbwales@gmail.com

Match Report:  Taff's Well 1st XV 5 v 15 Cilfynydd 1st XV