Fixture

With the news that today’s opponents would also be the next hurdle in the 4^th round of the WRU Bowl on Sat Dec. 6^th (away), the fixture took an extra significance as both sides would be looking to lay down a marker without showing too much of their hand. Coach Axel Rees took the opportunity to rotate the squad giving game time to players who had impressed over the past couple of weeks and the backline would see three youth players starting including debutant winger Tom Cattle.

Storming Start

With another good showing from the travelling support, the game kicked off in glorious sunshine with Taff’s Well sprinting from the blocks and applying all the early pressure. A series of lineouts in the Treharris red zone saw both prop Ben Atkin and hooker Bradley James held up over the line as the home defence somehow held out.

Captain Sparks the Scoring

The visitors were enjoying all the territory but for all the pressure, the score was still nil-all and you could sense the frustration but Captain and flanker Lewis Edwards was about to take matters into own hands as a Treharris chip and chase found its way into his hands for him to tear down the left touchline to stretch the Treharris defence and feed Conor Barrett on his inside who gratefully received the scoring pass to run in unopposed for outside-half Brandon Thrasher to convert.

Lineout Steal

With the nerves steadied, the pressure was focussed back on the home half and an attempted clearance kick was fielded by full-back Chris Tottle who quickly made up ground to put right-wing Tom Cattle away on a lovely jinking run which looked certain to produce a try if not for the intervention of the touch judge. The respite was brief as Taff’s Well pilfered the defending lineout for flanker Rhys Watkins to steal away and score with the conversion going wide.

Length of the Field

As Treharris fought to steady the ship with an incursion into the Taff’s Well 20, Chris Tottle fielded the ball under pressure to throw out a long pass to centre Jack Shaddick who set out from deep to splinter the Treharris defence will a great run down the middle which saw Rhys Watkins in support to take the pass and gallop over the whitewash for Thrasher to add the extras. With a 19-0 lead, things were definitely looking good.

Tap Dancing Tottle

With confidence oozing, play was back in the Treharris half thanks to some great stepping by Tottle for second-row Jon Barry to take on; from the ensuing ruck, the ball was spread in front of the home posts for centre Matthew Wright to feed No.8 Max Watkins in the centre to round his marker and touch down for another converted try to take the score to 26-0 and what was looking likely to be a rout after 30 minutes.

Treharris Fight Back

Not quite sure what happened from then on though, as the game muddled towards half-time for some slack defending to let in Treharris right-wing Josh Harroway to smartly take his opportunity to score wide out to take the score to 26-5 at the interval. The home side were to finish the half strongly as the game headed towards a second half which was to lose its shape and complexion.

                 Half-time Score:   Treharris 5 – 26 Taff’s Well

                                       Second Half

The scrum had been going well anchored by prop Deri Vaughan with hooker Bradley James executing some superb copy-book tackles but in the act of another, dislocated his thumb and was whisked off to hospital. Taff’s Well looked lively when the ball went wide and possession and territory had been gained in abundance but the second half was to be a scrappy affair as both sides seemed bemused by the officiating which meant the game stopped and started at which Treharris seem to handle better. The back three of Cattle, Tottle and Shaddick had looked dangerous with Conor with Barrett and Watkins carrying on their fine form.

Bad Start

As the ball was knocked forward from the restart, the visitors found themselves under pressure immediately which ultimately led to a converted try for Treharris No. 8 Alan Williams which meant that the home side had scored twelve points in as many minutes.

Close in the Corner

The home eight had picked up the tempo and were starting to make yards and Taff’s Well were forced to defend aggressively and the reward was to take play back upfield through lovely passing between the back three which was to earn a penalty lineout 5m out. With a catch and drive, the ball was worked out to Ben Atkin who charged in at the corner only for the honest Taff’s Well linesman Roger Kentfield to raise his flag.

Steadying the Ship

To their credit, Treharris were getting the better of the second half as a series of moves fell over thanks to some over-complicated execution which meant that home outside-half Gary Thomas started to fill his boots and have some influence with ball in hand. Just as spirits were rising for the hosts, Tottle again fielded from deep to show some gas and which enabled him to split the cover and put Rhys Watkins for his hat-trick of tries from 20m out – Thrasher converting and a sigh of relief for a 33-12 scoreline.

Treharris have last Word

With the ship steadied, it was a case of seeing the game out but the game had one last twist as a Taff’s Well chip over the top was gleefully caught by Treharris centre Andrew Llewellyn to scamper through the middle unmarked and untouched to plant the ball under the posts from 40m for a seven-pointer. There was relief all round as the whistle went as both players and spectators became frustrated through a poor second half which several yellow cards on both sides in a game which had looked likely to turn into a rout early doors.

                     Final Score:    Treharris 19 v 33 Taff’s Well

The Verdict

With Taff’s Well rotating the squad and Treharris missing several regulars, this game will do little to help coach Axel Rees plan for the cup game against the same opponents on the same field in a month’s time. With 26 unanswered points after 30 minutes, Treharris must have been thinking the worst as the home side were never in it the game thanks to a strong scrum and some slick running and finishing from deep with the back three prominent.

Treharris Honours

Credit to Treharris for the way they fought to get into the game as they forced Taff’s Well into a forward battle which they relished with some strong carries resulting in home Man-of-the-Match and outside-half Gary Thomas nursing his pack around the field for field position.

Taff’s Well Honours

For Taff’s Well, Conor Barrett continues to impress as did hooker Bradley James before his departure, with front row colleague Deri Vaughan anchoring the scrum.  Chris Tottle showed some great vision and pace from deep to put players outside him in space and the two youth wingers of Jack Shaddick and Tom Cattle showed maturity beyond their years. When someone scores three tries you would normally look as to how they were scored and whether they were ‘walk-ins’ but no need to worry, Rhys Watkins cemented his accolade of my Man-of-the-Match for the way carried, tackled and supported for his well-deserved hat-trick.

Maximum Points

When Taff’s Well do things simply, they look very good but a little bit of over-elaboration resulted in self-imposed pressure which helped to completely change direction of the game in the second half. All said, you just can’t complain about scoring five tries away from home and taking maximum points to stay joint top of the league. Happy days!

Next up…

Don’t’ miss the top of the league encounter with Abercwboi next Friday, 7.15pm KO, it’s going to be a red hot one!

Dave Beese   davecbwales@gmail.com