Fixture

With a few notable absentees, Taff’s Well called recent retiree and stalwart Adam French to the bench who answered the SOS by proceeding to tweak his back while trying to strap his much abused knee prior to kick-off, a timely reminder perhaps of just why he retired in the first place. With this rather inauspicious start out of the way, Gwernyfed were to prove a tough nut to crack as they raced out of the blocks before Taff’s Well were allowed to get off the team bus.

Goodness knows what Taff’s Well have done to upset the refereeing community but the team is having to get used to a deluge of penalties awarded against them although it’s fair to say the referee can’t be wrong on every occasion! The home side set about dominating the first half even though the honours were shared in both scrums and lineouts but Gwernyfed were to look much the hungrier at the breakdown as they continually got bodies in where it counted which was to translate in to both possession and territory and a total of 7 penalties for in the first 10 minutes.

Home full-back Gerwyn Williams must have thought his Christmas was just starting as he slotted over four kickable penalties to open a lead of 12-0 without the visitors really troubling the home 22 and the pack were struggling to contain a fired up Gwernyfed side which may have only won two games this season but according to a local source were ‘starting to go in the right direction’. Experienced Gwernyfed centre Gareth Dodd belied his 39 years to control almost everything that Gwernyfed were doing behind with some lovely touches and some telling kicks which were either knocking Taff’s Well back or putting his side in promising attacking situations.

With a rare incursion into the Gwernyfed 22, Taff’s Well were awarded a penalty which second-row Darryl Mota duly converted but any thoughts of a comeback were quickly dispelled as with the ball being chipped over the Taff’s Well defence and the cover trying to kick it dead, the situation turned to farce as the ball stopped in the in-goal area to enable Gwernyfed centre Aiden Murphy to steal up under the radar and get his hand to the ball to score what should have gone down on the score sheet as something akin to an own-goal – Williams converting to add salt to the wound and take the home side into a 19-3 half-time lead of which they were full value for.

                   Half-time score:   Gwernyfed 1^st XV 19 v 3 Taff’s Well 1^st XV

                                                         Second-half

Up to now, this had not been a good Taff’s Well performance and it was difficult to see where the game was going to be turned around as the forwards were struggling to secure good possession and the backs lacked any real conviction with what ball they had. The change in ends seemed to be the only real cause for hope which immediately seemed to do the trick as Taff’s Well started to look far more purposeful from the kick-off with the front row of Gareth Gibbs, hooker Matthew Desmier and hooker-turned-prop for this game Lloyd James looking to up the physicality and start taking the game to the home pack. The rewards were immediate as from a penalty won lineout 5m out, Taff’s Well were able to get a rumble going for ‘Chimpy’ Desmier to force his way over for a chink of light at the end of the tunnel to appear but the conversion was to go wide with the score at 19-8.

With Justin Jones back at his favoured position of flanker on the field, things were starting to look up as with Gwernyfed acquiring the second of their three yellow cards, another penalty won lineout from 5m out was to see Darryl Mota barge over from another great rumble which was to become a big part of the Taff’s Well arsenal during the second half. New signing and replacement debutant centre Rhys Lott took over the kicking duties and secured another two points with the conversion to peg back the scores to 19-15. Just as everything seemed to be coming to plan, Taff’s Well were to be hit by a Josh Phillips yellow card during which Gwernyfed hit back with a slick effort by right-wing Jack Williams as a result of some good passing through the line and a dab-down wide out with Williams teasing the crowd by bouncing the ball off and over the cross-bar for another two points and a 16 point afternoon's kicking haul for him and a lead of 26-15. Taff’s Well were soon to be back on the front foot and the referee looked to have switched loyalties to the Taff’s Well cause as he started to ping the home pack to enable flanker Ieuan Parsons to employ some pin-point kicking out of hand to set up lineouts deep in the Gwernyfed 22.

With eight minutes left on the clock and winning an attacking lineout, Taff’s Well worked the ball infield to set up camp in front of the posts and after some good ball retention were able to spin wide on the right for Parsons to dart over to take Taff’s Well to within a converted score of an unlikely win as the effort went unconverted – 26 points to 20 and a nail-biting finish in store. Both Mota and second-row colleague Jonathan Barry had been making hard yards throughout the second half and with both Desmier and James carrying well, the pack had been starting to get on top and force Gwernyfed to concede penalties for Taff’s Well to set up what was now starting to be a deadly rolling maul whenever the tryline was in sight. With the home side suffering from another yellow card, hearts in mouths and seconds left on the clock, Taff’s Well were awarded another penalty 20m out in front of the posts which prompted the inevitable quick tap to skipper Gibbs who busted up the middle to feed out along the line for centre Lott to twist over the line for a dramatic try with the last move of the match to present a difficult kick to cap a hard-fought come-back and one of the most improbable bonus-point victories.

With Roger Watkins hiding behind the floodlight stanchion unable to watch as Lott lined up the final kick of the match and a total hush around the ground, he calmly made a great connection to send the ball soaring high between the posts amid great celebrations from both players and travelling faithful and a stunned silence from the Gwernyfed players and supporters who must have thought they had just been collectively pick-pocketed.

                         Final score:  Gwernyfed 1^st XV 26 v 27 Taff’s Well 1^st XV

The Verdict

Where do you start with this one? This match had a bit of everything from pre-warm up injuries to four yellow cards and a last minute kick to cement an implausible victory. Whilst Taff’s Well be delighted with the manner in which they came back to seal victory, Gwernyfed will be devastated as this was a match they seemed to have in the bag right up until the final seconds. Taff’s Well weren't at the races during the first half as the home side competed fiercely at the breakdown forcing Taff’s Well to concede penalty after penalty which was to give them a mountain to climb for the remainder of the match but in true Chris Bonnington fashion, climb they did.

For Gwernyfed, centre Gareth Dodd was the class act on the pitch as he tormented Taff’s Well with his kicking and always looked to have time on the ball which is a sign of any good player and he will be as disappointed as anybody that his side could not hold out to the end albeit under tremendous pressure as Taff’s Well ramped up in sight of the finishing tape. Taff’s Well coach Axel Rees would have been disappointed himself at the manner of his team’s first-half performance as his pack were out-thought and out-fought which made life very difficult for the backline with the Gwernyfed backs easily able to contain any ambitious intentions wide out.

The second half saw the Taff's Well eight grow in confidence and intent as they started to wear down their opposite numbers and keep the ball tight to employ a formidable and effectual rolling maul which was to bring about a bonus point second half haul of four tries and a second half score of 24-7 in favour of Taff’s Well. This was not a day for the Taff’s Well backs who although were diligent in defence, struggled to get any cohesion with any purposeful passing but centre Rhys Lott looks a good signing and with players to come back in, their day will come. To be truthful, nobody stood out for Taff’s Well in the first half but the improvement was there for all to see in the second with the forwards growing in physicality and gaining the upper-hand as the game wore on. Flankers Parsons and Jones showed up well in the loose as both sides looked secure in the set-pieces and the front five adding the necessary grunt with a special mention for Lloyd James filling in at prop who not only held his own locking down the scrum, but also managed to carry with purpose and aggression.

From where they found themselves, this was an impressive comeback under any circumstances and the guys must take a huge amount of credit for the way they fought right up until the final whistle, no doubt spurred on by the travelling support who made the long trip and who can pat themselves on the back for the difference it makes to the players.  For my Taff’s Well Man-of-the-Match, I’m going to go no further than hooker ‘Chimpy’ Desmier who typified the Taff's Well fightback with a typically belligerent performance which helped to wear down the Gwernyfed resistance and produce as exciting a climax to a game you could wish for.

Coming up...

Next week sees the 5^th round WRU Bowl fixture away to Treherbert KO 2.00pm so we will need all the support we can get to cheer our lads into the quarter-finals for the second year running, just three games away from another Principality Stadium final so make sure you’re there!

Dave Beese   davecbwales@gmail.com