Fixture

With Caerau Ely unable to raise a side to entertain the Taff's Well 1st XV, it meant that last year's beaten finalists gained a walkover into the next round of the WRU Bowl competition allowing attention to be turned towards the 2nd XV's biggest game of the season so far against East District Cup holders The Metropolitan University of Cardiff at home in front of a sizeable crowd.

Having been edged out at the semi-final stage of the District Cup last season, the 2^nd XV might have been disappointed to draw last year’s run-away winners Cardiff Metropolitan University in the first round this year but these are different times at Taff’s Well and the general feeling was that this was an opportunity to test themselves against the best.

Starting with a more balanced looking line-up save for experienced stalwart prop John Davies filling in at the coalface at 48, Taff’s Well were immediately asked questions by a big physical Met side which resulted in a mixture of good tackling and forward passes denying the visitors the opportunity to open their account. The omens were not good and there was a certain amount of trepidation when both packs locked up for the first scrum but to the delight of the large home crowd, the Taff’s Well eight turned on the power and completely dismantled the Met set-piece which was going to be a constant feature of the first half.

With the aid of a dominant scrum and after soaking up a lot of pressure, Taff’s Well started to get back into the game and a smart break by outside half Martin Detorres resulted in a kick and chase to the Met line where the ball was only just minored. The philosophy throughout the club is to get the ball wide to the speedsters but Taff’s Well were guilty of one or two ‘miracle’ pass attempts and chuck in the odd accidental offside in attacking positions which all meant that Taff’s Well weren’t quite able to convert hard earned possession into points.

The game was turning into a good cup tie with the students always looking dangerous and Taff’s Well countering with Detorres testing the visitors defence with a series of breaks and second-rower Lewys Jones refusing to take a step backwards. Then came a moment of class when right-winger Mike Lindon was teed up to run from deep and produce a scything run to cut straight through the student defence to almost produce a contender for individual try of the season but a desperate tackle felled the big winger yards short of the line with the ball falling free over the Met line but the chance was still alive as ever-alert left winger Gwilym Edwards was close in attendance to fall on the ball and score a super try to put Taff’s Well into the lead with Detorres adding the extras.

This was now cut and thrust stuff and it was great to see Ashley Bonetto back in action producing a silky service to his half-back partner together while bashing it up with any back rowers who had any ideas of keeping him shackled. As the game breathlessly drew to towards half-time, Taff’s Well were penalised for offside and Met winger Glen James stroked over a penalty to bring the visitors within four points of the home side and Taff’s Well 7 -3 up at the break.

The second half opened with the students applying pressure with their back row of No 8 Harvey Scott and flanker Harry Thompson figuring prominently and from a penalty awarded for holding on, they chose to kick deep into the Taff’s Well 22 for an attacking lineout which was repelled with stout defence forcing the student forwards to knock the ball on - another superb scrum allowing Taff’s Well to clear their lines. With both packs not exactly on each other’s Christmas card lists, tempers were beginning to rise and the two sides elected to discuss the merits of the situation through the medium of non-diplomatic intervention which saw several scuffles break out over the field, the referee doing a good job of calming things down as the trainers patched up the injured parties.

With youth on their side, the superior fitness of the Met squad was always going to be a concern and the visitors were starting to crank up the pressure which resulted in a slick move across the back-line to allow livewire Met fullback Callum Conway to cross in the left-hand corner for a smart try with James adding a fine conversion to put the students up at 7 -10. With the tide turning in terms of scrum superiority, the visitors were now starting to get on top and it demanded dogged defence from the likes of No 8 Conor Barrett and flanker Rhys Green who both worked tirelessly all afternoon to keep scoreboard operator Roger Watkins in his chair when the students threatened. The home cause was further dented when hands in the ruck saw James add to his tally by converting a well taken shot at goal to increase the score to 7 – 13.

For all their pressure, the visitors could not find a way to break down a very committed Taff’s Well defence and a converted try would have snatched it but the students finished strongly enough to close out the match 7 – 13 in a highly competitive and engaging match which saw honours even in the try count.

The Verdict

This was a very good Met side who as the reigning cup holders showed no signs of relinquishing the title this early in the competition, that said, Taff’s Well showed tremendous spirit to send the visitors away with more than a bloodied nose. To a man, the home side refused to buckle and showed incredible belief in taking the game towards the champions and it seems a shame to have to single out several players but such is the nature of the post, I’ll do my duty and mention the efforts of Jack Shaddick, Mike Lindon, Rhys Green, Martin Detorres, Ashley Bonetto, Gwilym Edwards, Lewis Jones and the player’s choice of man of the match – No 8 Conor Barrett who got right up the noses of a very powerful Met back row. It would be remiss of me if I was not to mention the efforts of prop John Davies in a dominant scrum throughout the first half and his experience helped to galvanise the efforts of a fighting Taff’s Well eight who refused to show respect for the university side's much vaunted reputation.

All in all, you could not fault the effort of anybody who donned a Taff’s Well shirt today and with a little bit of composure in the right places, a shock result could well have been on the cards. Given that Taff’s Well were promoted last season, the management will be content to know that today’s performance will auger well for the new surroundings of Division two of the Cardiff and District League.

All eyes next week will be focussed on the biggest game of the season so far as the unbeaten 1st XV take on unbeaten league leaders Cambrian Welfare at home, the visitors will be still smarting from the loss to Taff's Well in last year's Bowl semi-final and have been playing some great rugby this season so don't miss it. The 2nd XV be will be resuming their league programme with the short trip to Llandaff North while the Ladies will be taking on Blaina during Sunday afternoon following last week's win at Deri.