Fixture

On a glorious cold sunny January day, the scene was set for a Taff’s Well side seeking the double over their Garth neighbours while Pentyrch would be seeking to avenge an early 24-0 home defeat when the score somewhat flattered the visitors. With several unavailability’s including five wingers, the Taff’s Well bench was to see the inclusion of two youth team members in Jack Shaddick and debutant Dewi Shapland-Davies with skipper Gareth Gibbs running out on his 250^th appearance before a large expectant crowd. With the historic rivalry between these two clubs causing many a dust-up over the years, these days the bragging rights are thankfully more to do with the acquisition of league points and keeping fifteen players on the field.

As the game kicked off, it was the visitors who were to get into gear first as they dominated possession but the home defence stood firm and despite one such promising move towards the Taff’s Well line, Pentyrch were forced in to a knock-on and outside-half Rhys Lott cleared the danger with a huge clearance kick. There then followed a rather bizarre incident when home centre Matthew Wright cleared through a ruck to collide with a Pentyrch forward who in turn collided with referee Adrian Lewis from Llanelli, completely poleaxing him to lay him out cold on the floor. Not sure what the concussion protocols are for referees but there loomed the prospect of the game being called off without a certified and conscious compos mentis official available but to his credit and after a lengthy delay, Adrian eventually managed to get up, dust himself down and duly get on with the game, probably proving to all and sundry that he was the hardest man on the pitch!

Although Pentyrch were denying the home side any meaningful possession, the Taff’s Well scrum was again starting to get on top and the visitors did exceptionally well not to give any penalties away for splintering, wheeling or standing up - ‘Tyrch No8 Mark Oakman deserving a pat on the back for the way he controlled possession in a retreating scrum. After soaking up pressure, the pack started to wake up with scrum-half Ashley Bonetto enjoying the physical side of things and Adam French finding himself back on the field after retiring last season and showing some nice touches but unlike a true old dog, he refuses to be put down - Gwilym Edwards also showing some nice touches in defence. With more territory being won, the pack began a drive which took them to within yards of the Pentyrch line and after sucking in the cover, the ball was worked wide for No8 Max Watkins to dive over in the left-hand corner which was rewarded with a superb conversion by another debutant in full-back Thomas Benjamin to open up a 7-0 lead.

Things may have been bad in the scrum for Pentyrch but they also has their problems in the lineout which was not only being pinged for not being thrown in straight, it was also under attack from second-row Tommy Guy who proving to be a right nuisance to the Pentyrch jumpers. With a scrum awarded to Taff’s Well after another lineout infringement, the ball was whipped along the line to centre Justin Jones who broke the cover defence to pass on to 18yr old substitute Jack Shaddick who showed a great turn of speed and a fine hand-off to round the cover defence and score in the right-hand corner to make the half-time score 12-0 to Taff’s Well in a half which had seen the home side concede 13 penalties to 3 and much like the early fixture, Pentyrch perhaps not getting any reward for their efforts, especially in the loose. Another important feature of the half was the 13-0 penalty count against Taff’s Well which has been a constant feature of the Taff’s Well season.

                     Half-time score:  Taff’s Well 1^st XV 12 v 0 Pentyrch 1^st XV

                                                       Second Half

The half opened up with some promising attacking from Taff’s Well which was to be undone by another accidental off-side collision from which Pentyrch tried to run the ball to the left but it was brought to a halt by a shuddering Ashley Bonetto tackle. From a resultant scrum and the Pentyrch cover bearing down, outside-half Loot looked up and let go of a cross-field kick with wingman Gwilym Edwards in mind but Edwards was so unlucky not to gather as the ball was knocked forward. From another dominant scrum, Bonetto was at it again as he broke and made a clear break into the visitors 22 but he was too quick for his own good as he outran his support and had no one to pass to when he was brought to ground metres from the line.

With more possession starting to come and the Taff’s Well forwards starting to run at the Pentyrch defence, the ball was worked out to centre Jones who again made a fine break to feed a rampaging skipper in Gareth Gibbs who in turn fed out to flanker Ieuan Parsons who broke a tackle to cross for try number three as the conversion attempt went wide. The score was particularly pleasing as Taff’s Well had been asked to cope with the yellow-carding of full-back Benjamin after a few unwise comments to the referee but nice to see him shake the hand of referee Lewis as he returned to the action. Pentyrch were to hit back with a fine flowing movement to the Taff’s Well left flank but with a clear overlap and a try seemingly looming, home centre Jones was to make a timely interception and hare off down the field but the scrambling Pentyrch defence did well to recover and force the danger into touch.

With coach Axel Rees forced into using several substitutes, the make-up of the back-line had a slightly different look to it but the pack kept on delivering for replacement hooker Lloyd James to split the defence and take play in to the shadow of the Pentyrch posts; with the ball quickly recycled, Bonetto fed skipper Gibbs who threw an outrageous dummy which had the Pentyrch defenders still looking for it after the game for him to race through and score which was converted by Lott to take the score to 24-0 and a rather bewildered looking Pentyrch side. With the game in the bag, coach Rees decided to debut young 18yr old Dewi Shapland-Jones who has been ripping up the field in the youth team and he impressed with a typical aggressive burst to show what he'll offer next season.

From this point on, the game was to get a little scrappy but Pentyrch gamely stuck to the task and were rewarded with a fine try by impressive right-winger Will Jones who looked dangerous every time he touched the ball. The visitors had done well competing in the loose all afternoon thanks largely to the efforts of flanker Tristan Griffiths and spurred on by the efforts of scrum-half Huw Rees who was one of the Pentyrch standouts in a backline which for the most part was well shepherded by a an organised Taff’s Well defensive line. With the try converted and the score standing at 24-7, Pentyrch were looking a tired side which was illustrated by a Gwilym Edwards interception who raced away down the pitch to score under the sticks to put a rather one-sided look on the score board which did not tell the true story of the game. There was only one thing left to do and that was to get skipper Gibbs to convert the try for a haul of 250 games, 1 try and 1 conversion plus a bonus point win for his side to cap a great day for him and a frustrated Pentyrch side going back up the hill with a bit of head scratching.

                         Final Score:  Taff’s Well 1^st XV 31 v 5 Pentyrch 1^st XV

The Verdict

Taff’s Well be delighted by the bonus point win but as with many games this season, it has taken a stirring second half resurgence from the pack as they wear their counterparts down to put the game in the bag. The penalties are becoming a huge issue as the final count fell 18-3 in Pentyrch’s favour and it’s a mystery as to why the team continues to get on the wrong side of so many referees. The defence looked organised and it was great to see the two youth players in Jack Shaddick and Shapland-Davies have an influence on the game with a beaming Mother Shapland-Davies on the touchline.

The visitors toiled away all match with good performances from Will Jones, Tristan Griffiths , Huw Rees and Mark Oakman but coach Fielies Coetsee bemoaned the fact that Pentyrch didn’t really get the reward they perhaps deserved. ‘I thought we competed well in the breakdown and we managed to cope with a retreating scrum and a lineout which was disappointing at times but we started to struggle towards the end when the Taff’s Well pack started to run at us. I don’t really think the score was a fair reflection on the game, the score perhaps flattered Taff’s Well on the day’. Can’t really disagree with that Fielies.

For Taff’s Well, scrum-half Ashley Bonetto had his customary abrasive game with some good breaks and tackles with Justin Jones in the centre having a fine afternoon with some scything breaks. Up front, there was a huge improvement from last week’s lineout with Tommy Guy in fine form and Adam French fooling no one with tales of his body breaking down. There were two injuries to worry about as No8 Max Watkins broke his nose and new signing Thomas Benjamin came off with a tweaked hamstring.

For this week only, I’m going to single out three people in light of their impressive contributions to the game as I think the circumstances merit it. Firstly, I would like to announce centre Matthew Wright as my ‘Specsavers’ Man-of-the-match thanks to his efforts in managing to knock the referee out. Secondly, I would like to announce referee Adrian Lewis as my ‘Ref-of-the-match’ in light of his impressive recovery from an almighty collision which would have put most players off the pitch and lastly, the man-of-the-match award which has to go to Captain Gareth Gibbs who put in a barnstorming performance both in defence and attack which was topped by a great ‘outside-half’s’ try and a conversion to cap a memorable 250^th appearance in Taff's Well colours for him.

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Dave Beese    davecbwales@gmail.com