Fixture

Today’s visitors Gwernyfed, were on the back of a 10 match unbeaten match run having leap-frogged from early relegation candidates to promotion hopefuls having despatched the likes of Pontyclun, Fairwater and Pentyrch with a game built on a strong pack and scrummaging platform. Coach Axel Rees was expecting a tough day at the office as the two sides at second and third in the league locked horns with Gwernyfed looking to overtake Taff’s Well with a bonus-point win although the hosts would have three games in hand over their rivals, and Taff's Well looking to go joint top with a bonus point win of their own

Penalty Extravaganza

Not sure if referee Richard Thomas had his tyres let down the last time he was in Taff’s Well as he pinged the home side with four penalties in the first four minutes which resulted in early pressure from the visitors and a missed shot at goal plus a driving maul being held up just short of the Taff’s Well line – ominous signs with discipline high on the early agenda.

Prescott Presses Home Advantage

Thanks to a trademark break from left wing Jack Shaddick, outside-half Jamie Field was given the opportunity to open the scoring from a welcome home penalty which he dutifully complied with to settle the early nerves. And with the home side showing good ambition and understanding as they looked to go wide, possession from an attacking lineout enabled the forwards to set up an excellent driving maul which took play up to the visitors line and tee-up second-row Ethan Prescott to plough through the cover and score for Field to convert and open up a 10-0 lead.

Tactical Nous

One of the huge improvement areas for the home side was the kicking out of hand as grubbers, Garryowens, chips, clearances and good old fashion hoofs were all put to devastating effect as Taff’s Well started to put their tactical hold on the game. One such chip forced the visitors to concede a penalty in retreat and with a subsequent attacking scrum as a platform, the home eight turned on the grunt to power forward and enable No. 8 Max Watkins to pick up and drive over for try number two but without the extras - 15-0 to the hosts.

Scrum Mix-Up

This was starting to look like a good Taff’s Well afternoon as the forwards were edging it against a combative Gwernyfed eight who had flankers Graig Fuller and Captain Sam Stephens mixing it up with home flankers Rhys Watkins and Captain Lewis Edwards. The scrum and lineout were going well, tactical kicking on song, forwards doing some serious damage with their mauling and the backs looking to cut loose – sooo.. all the more frustrating when a defensive scrum mix-up allowed Gwernyfed second-row Jordan Curran to pick up the ball uncontested and stroll over the line for a soft try which was converted by full-back Geraint Williams – 15-7 to the boys in black.

Normal Service Resumes

Gwernyfed were having their moments but a miserly home defence was certainly making things difficult for them as time after time, attacking forays were thwarted through a mixture of solid defence and set-piece disruption. The big difference between the sides during the first half would be the influence of outside-half Jamie Field who was ably pulling the strings behind. There would no better illustration of his contribution than when from an attacking 15m lineout, he eyed up the on-rushing defence to put through an exquisite grubber for centre Ryan Smith to latch onto and drop over the line and put the home side in sight of a bonus point before halftime. Field converted and a rather healthy looking score of 22-7 was reflecting the incisive and clinical edge that the home side was displaying.

Bonus Point in the Bag

From the restart, an opportunist up and under return saw man and ball collared with the ball pilfered to ignite a lovely passage of movement which saw play go from left to right culminating in right-wing Ronan Barrett throwing a defence-splitting inside pass to send over skipper Lewis Edwards for the fourth try bonus point which at this stage, was looking ominous for the men from North Brecon. This was good stuff as the confidence was evident throughout the side and we almost witnessed the try of the season as Jamie Field instigated a lovely training ground move which totally bamboozled the defence line but the final pass was adjudged to have been forward – but not to the many squad players who were standing square to the pass on the touchline – flat tyres ringing any bells?

Impressive First Half Performance

With a ring of endorsement around the ground, the sides turned around with Taff’s Well in a healthy 27-7 lead and full value for the score-line as they produced one of their best halves of the season showing a somewhat clinical edge that has not been apparent up to now. A solid all-round display which promised much for the second half but as all too often, the fates were to conspire and Taff’s Well would be forced to show another side of their character during the second half.

First Half:  Taff’s Well 27 – 7 Gwernyfed

Second Half

Things were to start brightly enough with flanker Rhys Green taking to the field showing the strength of the bench and the home side stifling any earlier creativity with the likes of centre Ryan Smith showing some good touches in attack and especially defence. One of the frustrations this season, has been the inability to ‘put teams away’ when seemingly on top but you would be forgiven for thinking up to this point of the game, that today would be different – not so, as an seemingly innocuous bit of hand-bagging saw home prop Ben Atkin red-carded for a punch and scrum-half Craig Field following him with a yellow from the same incident – deja vu?

Red Mist – Red Card

The old nemesis – discipline, had struck again. From putting on a show for the Taff’s Well faithful, this lack of self-control meant that the home side would now need to see out the next ten minutes two men down, and for the entire second half, one man down. With replacement scrum-half Gwilym Edwards brought into the action, this was going to be a tough test of character.

Stepping up to the Plate

If the first half had been impressive in terms of game management then I would suggest that the next ten minutes were to go up to an even higher level as the entire side lifted itself to produce an impressive shift in the face of adversity. The defensive backbone managed to keep its shape throughout even though the visitors didn’t help themselves with some errant kicking and choosing the wrong direction to send the ball when overlaps were worked thanks to lack of covering numbers. The front five of Lloyd James, Bradley James and Ben Atkin gave nothing away in the scrums, no doubt thanks to the solid anchoring of second-rows Jon Barry and Prescot who were a nuisance in the loose throughout and the centre partnership of Matthew Wright and Ryan Smith were giving liitle away in defence.

Attacking Instinct Almost Pays Off

In truth, Gwernyfed will be disappointed that they couldn’t manage to profit from their numerical advantage but the Taff’s Well defence stood fast and some telling kicks were to be as effective throughout this spell as they were throughout the first half, with Barrett, in particular, showing some fine nous in penning back the visitors. This wasn’t a kitchen sink job from Taff’s Well, this was well-organised defence and tactics which almost helped to produce two more tries as Barrett chased a chip in the clear only to be brought back for a Taff’s Well penalty and full-back Chris Tottle scything through but just failing to capitalise with a score.

Gwernyfed Persistence Pays Off

This report may sound as if there was only one side in it, but that wouldn’t be anywhere near the truth as the Gwernyfed pack fought to a standstill with prop Cellen Skyrme as one their standouts and their efforts were to be rewarded with some quick thinking from a 5m penalty which saw No.8 Isaac Duffy double his sides score thanks to another conversion by Williams. The difference between the sides had been clinical execution and Taff’s Well weren’t finished yet finishing the game with reliable hooker replacement Matthew Desmier and youth outside-half Brandon Thrasher. A superb Barrett kick from his own half set up a 5m defensive lineout which brought a steal against the throw which would eventually see replacement second-row John Stephens held-up agonisingly short of the line.

Coup De Grace

The respite was temporary as from the resulting attacking scrum, scrum-half Edwards took off to stretch the oncoming defence and feed full-back Tottle on the crash-ball to see him dive over for a try which capped an impressive team performance and a bonus point win which puts Taff’s Well as joint leaders at the top of the league with Abercwmboi but having played a game more.

Final Score:  Taff’s Well 32 v 14 Gwernyfed

The Verdict

This was a highly competitive game between two sides who are in the melting pot for promotion, Taff’s Well have the points and Gwernyfed certainly had the momentum with an impressive run of ten games unbeaten. Something had to give, and thankfully from a Taff’s Well perspective, the side were to produce a highly clinical first-half performance and a well-managed second which saw them come to terms with the red card & yellow cards which were unnecessary in the context of the game and could have been costly in another scenario.

Gwernyfed Disappointment

Missing one or two of the cornerstones of their pack, the visitors lost a focal part of their armoury as Taff’s Well took the honours in the scrums and lineouts with the rolling maul being especially effective. Quick thinking saw two tries for Gwernyfed but they couldn’t take advantage of the numbers when it mattered and they suffered with their kicking game when Taff’s Well excelled at theirs. As mentioned, the trio of Craig Fuller, Sam Stephens and Cellen Skyrme exemplified their efforts up front but the pack never quite managed to provide the platform they needed to wide against a mean home defence on the day.

Discipline…

From a Taff’s Well point of view, this was an encouraging performance all round which produced an impressive first half which laid the platform to put the game out of sight, and there was much expectation for the second half as the cracks were starting to appear but the old foe of discipline was to show its head  again. Referee Mr. Thomas resembled a disco dancer as he repeatedly pointed to the air in awarding penalties against Taff’s Well but he couldn’t be wrong all the time, even if we prefer to think he was, and it took a superbly managed second-half effort to deny the ascendancy to a visiting side which sought to make the most of their numerical advantage.

Taff’s Well Standouts

This win was as the result of a true team performance which stemmed from good set-pieces, rabid defence, sound kicking game, good game management and an ambition which could have resulted in three to four more tries on another day. Hooker Bradley James continues to impress with his tackling knocking over guys twice his size with superb technique, second-row youth player Ethan Prescott looked a handful going forward together with some important rips and centre Ryan Smith came up with some important tackles which typified the attitude of the whole team on the day.  

MOM

The pick of the bunch for me would have to be No.8 Max Watkins who tackled and ran with so much conviction and took the nod from the players as MOM and outside-half Jamie Field who sparked the side in so many of the good things that happened throughout the match. As an ex-back, I’m going to give my nod to Jamie Field who not only brought the best out of his backline, he coaxed the ball and subsequently his pack around the paddock to deny Gwernyfed any real chance of getting a platform or anything else out of the game. Well done to all the lads and good to hear so many positive comments from the touchline – we don’t expect much as Taff’s Well supporters do we??

What else?

Results went with Taff’s Well today as both Pentyrch and Fairwater lost giving us some vital space between several of the chasing sides as the thin end of the wedge nears but there are some tough matches to come starting with the crucial derby match against Pentyrch next Saturday so make sure you’re there to make yourself heard. Great news with the youth reforming in stronger numbers and they will be playing at home next Wednesday evening so put that one in your diary. The U16’S are home kicking off at 12.00am today followed by the Ladies buoyed by their huge win last week. Good times.  

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Dave Beese    davecbwales@gmail.com