Fixture

With both sides boasting an unbeaten record in this top of the table clash, Taff’s Well entertained one of the largest crowds for years swollen by the travelling fans of Cambrian Welfare and what a nail biting encounter it turned out to be.

The game started rather tentatively with both sides testing their opponents in the air and ensuring that neither were caught in possession within the red zone but the home side were pinged early for offside to enable Cambrian outside-half Julian Huntly to open the scoring with a penalty. The visitors were settling quickly and took play into the home 22 where Taff’s Well produced a terrific scrum forcing Cambrian to concede a penalty and the danger was cleared. Early doors, the game started to be punctuated with a series of knock-ons due to a mixture of good defence and poor handling which was unfortunately going to be the trademark for the Taff’s Well performance throughout the match.

More pressure from Cambrian brought the reward of another penalty which Huntly just pushed wide but Taff’s Well immediately hit back with a good run by winger Mike Lyndon who passed on to danger man fullback Ronan Barratt but the move broke down when the pass was adjudged to be forward. In-form hooker ‘Chimpy’ Desmier looked to get in on the act with a typical abrasive charge into the visitors 22 but after keeping possession through several phases, the ball was knocked-on. Cambrian turned the pressure back up and did well to take play down to the Taff’s Well 22 only for winger Gavin Close to gain possession and break to kick and chase up field and produce a great tackle aided and abetted by the ever-present Rhys Watkins at flanker; again Cambrian attacked the home 22 but sound covering play by fullback Barratt enabled the danger to be averted.

After a penalty awarded for a high tackle, Cambrian kicked to the home 22 for an attacking lineout but the Taff’s eight were impressively winning the set-piece exchanges and forced Cambrian to concede a penalty for outside Shaun Baggs to  send the ball back downfield. Both sides were producing very effective in-your-face defensive displays which continued to help produce frustrating knock-ons with the main culprits being the Taff’s Well backs who were struggling to get any kind of rhythm going. From a dominant scrum, Max Watkins broke through several defenders only for the forwards to take their turn in knocking the ball forward much to the delight of the Cambrian Barmy Army. Despite the hard endeavour from the Taff’s Well pack, Cambrian were shading the half without really threatening the home line and any hopes that Taff’s Well had of playing their normal expansive game were being stifled by the multitude of handling errors.

Cambrian continued to attack towards half-time and tried through a succession of line-outs to get some forward momentum in the Taff Well 22 but a resolute defence and a misfiring Cambrian line-out meant the visitors never looked threatening enough to add to their lead. With 40 minutes up , Cambrian settled for a slender 3-0 scoreline leaving Taff’s Well hoping that a change of ends would mean a change in fortune.

                   Half-time Score:  Taff's Well 0 v 3 Cambrian Welfare 

                                                        Second Half

With the rain now falling, Taff’s Well received the kick-off and immediately put themselves under pressure with a totally sliced kick but made amends by attacking the Cambrian line-out and clearing. Replacement scrum-half Ashley Bonetto was starting to get some change out of his kicks and Taff’s Well edged down to the visitors 22 who were penalised for bringing down a maul. From the resultant 6m line-out, Taff’s Well mauled affectively enough to get another penalty which meant the whitewash was well and truly in sight but again the ball was lost and the wisdom for not going for the posts was under scrutiny. Taff’s Well were starting to get on top and again edged down to the Cambrian 22 only to lose the line-out and the chance to maintain pressure.  Frustration was now building and after impeding the Cambrian scrum-half from a quick penalty tap and go, Rhys Watkins was given a yellow pass to the dugout for 10 minutes.

With one man down and up against a big physical pack, the Taff’s Well seven knuckled down and still managed to more than hold their own against a side that were intent on making the numeral advantage count. Despite breaks from wingers Close and Lindon, the frailties of the first half started to appear in the second with handling again the chief culprit meaning the pack were to be asked to step up to the plate time and time again if Taff’s Well were to have any hope of taking anything out the game. Cambrian were living off the Taff’s Well mistakes with visiting flanker Alex Williams having a great game but tenacious defence from one to fifteen coupled with a huge improvement in the rucking area saw Taff’s Well not allowing Cambrian the chance to get their high scoring backs going and the visitors were frustrated time and agian with the amount of timely Taff’s Well turnovers.

With Cambrian penalised for backchat, Shaun Baggs was presented with the opportunity to square the game but his well struck effort agonisingly missing at the top of the posts by a foot. Although Taff’s Well were shading the possession, they were still struggling to put a series of good passes together across the backline which meant that players were being put under pressure before they received the ball and subsequent lateral running lines were meat and drink to the Cambrian defence. The entire Taff’s Well back row of Rhys Watkins, Max Watkins & Leigh Jones were delivering where it counted with Ashley Bonetto still managed to have a few bullocking runs to give the Taff’s Well faithful value for money.

This is an excellent Cambrian side and their physicality earned them a penalty shot from 47 odd metres out allowing for the angle and with a superb strike, Huntly nailed another 3 points to double the Cambrian score. Another good run form Ashley Bonetto was rewarded with a penalty which gave Taff’s Well a line-out on the opposing 22 which yielded yet another penalty and a line-out 5m from the Cambrian line but yet another handling error saw further progress frittered away. With a raucous crowd egging their respective teams on and only a converted try in it, Cambrian took play into the Home 22 only for the game to be stopped for a potentially life-threatening injury to Cambrian outside-half and Captain Julian Huntly who swallowed his tongue after an accidental clash. The field filled with everyone who was medically qualified in order for emergency treatment to be successfully administered to bring him back round and thankfully he was well enough to be helped to his feet and walk rather gingerly to the dressing room. We’d like to wish Julian all the very best as he recovers and thank everyone who tended to him so quickly including our own Max Watkins who was the first person to realise what was going and immediately stop playing to go to Julian's aid – nice one Max!

With the game resumed, Taff’s Well threw everything at Cambrian but the game finished with a stray Taff’s Well pass into touch when on the attack which kind of summed up the afternoon for the home side and hence, a fierce contest was brought to end with a win for Cambrian Welfare by 6 points 0, the roar from the visiting supporters telling you that this was a close one.

                         Final score:    Taff's Well 0 - 6 Cambrian Welfare

The Verdict

With both sides unbeaten, this was always going to be one of the tastier games of the season but for all its intensity, it didn’t quite live up to its billing, mainly because both sides had such water-tight defences, both will no doubt be looking into the record books for the last time they failed to score a try in the league. Cambrian brought a level of physicality which was more than matched by Taff’s Well with the pack filling their boots and having superiority in the set-pieces but the home side failed to get any kind of fluidity when looking wide as poor handling, aimless kicking out of hand and poor decision making in the offload denied them the opportunity to bring the Taff's Well fliers into the game with purpose.

Any good news for Taff’s Well?  Yes, plenty – even without their ‘A’ game, they still managed to push promotion favourites Cambrian all the way and could easily have won the game if only they could have managed to get a few sequences of passes together. The backs all looked dangerous individually and tackled ferociously but could not quite get it together as a unit and the club will be hoping that rumours of Teflon sponsoring the club next season are unfounded (other non-stick products are available of course). The back row of the two Watkins plus Jones give as good as they got with the front five lending the necessary grunt; in the backs, the two scrum-halves Gwilym Edwards and Ashley Bonetto tried their best to bring some urgency into the proceedings with the two wingers Gavin Close & Mike Lindon always looking dangerous with ball in hand – for the visitors, the standout player was flanker Alex Williams who was everyhwhere and congratulations must go to the vistors for taking the long-standing home ground record. A special mention for young Jack Shaddick who came on as replacement in the centre for his first team debut and he showed some nice touches. For my man of the match, I’m going to agree with the majority and go for hooker ‘Chimpy’ Desmier who got in a great shift around the field and played his part in a pack which just about shaved the honours.

Axel Rees and his coaches will be hoping that this was just a bad day at the office with regards to the things that just didn't quite go right and will target next week’s tough away game to Abercwmboi as an opportunity to put them right straight away.

Dave Beese - davecbwales@gmail.co.uk

2nd XV Score 7 Tries in 1st Half Walkover Result - 2nd XV Match Report:  Llandaff North v Taff's Well 15/10/16