Fixture

As we look to the business end of the season, today’s match was effectively an 8 pointer with Fairwater tucked behind Taff’s Well in 3^rd place and hoping to close the 11 point gap. Past fixtures have been close and hard-fought and this one was no exception. With the going soft underfoot, the scene was set for what could prove to be one of the pivotal games of the season.

Early Frustration

The early play saw the pack delivering quality possession but a series of handling errors were proving costly although it wasn’t long before a penalty allowed the home side to launch an attack from a 5m lineout. With the ball secured, an eight-man drive saw the ball taken over the line but the referee wasn’t convinced of a grounding and brought play back for a 5m Taff’s Well scrum. With another drive towards the line, flanker Rhys Watkins ploughed over only for the referee to whistle for another Fairwater infringement a split second previous but the quickly taken tap was wasted and it was the defending side who were awarded a penalty.

 Another Chance Goes Begging

With the forwards secure in the set-pieces, No.8 Max Watkins broke to feed prop Ben Atkin who fed hooker Bradley James to charge for the line but a forward pass was ruled and another opportunity went down the swanny. A relieved Fairwater side were quick to take advantage and as play went wide, a chip to the whitewash meant a straight sprint for honours which saw fullback Chris Tottle fill his boots and save the day with the minor.

Fairwater Take the Lead

Hopes were to rise for the home side as a rumble from a lineout saw some 35m eaten up as the visitors were well and truly on the back foot but as the ball was released, it was some poor passing that saw the movement come to an end with a knock-on. With a penalty against Taff’s Well for not rolling away in the tackle, Chris Greenfield stepped up to open the scoring with a well-struck effort which had you thinking that perhaps this wasn’t going to be a good day for the villagers. As the visitors tried to create opportunities, it was good to see experienced head Chris Kidley-Burgwyn on the left wing making a rare appearance but showing that he still has the full repertoire of defensive nous which has served him so well in the past.

Fairwater go Free

With Tottle and right-wing Ronan Barrett combining down the right to earn Taff’s Well a penalty lineout at 16m out, hopes were again raised as the ball went wide but more miss-handling ended another foray with another knock-on. If Taff’s were being wasteful then Fairwater were to show them how it’s done as a rather innocuous move saw Liam Free glide through a gap and throw a wonderful (albeit forward) pass to take out his backline and tee up winger Ben Jackson to stretch his legs and outstrip the home defence to score.

Taff’s Denied on the Stroke of Half-Time

The home side were creating enough chances to probably put the game safe by half-time but it was the finishing and a mixture of bad luck that was  doing the damage as two chances were put down before Tottle and Barrett again combined from deep to take play up to the Fairwater line for ever-present flanker Rhys Green to drive over for what seemed like a certain try this time, but with Fairwater intelligently diving in from all angles to confuse the referee, he didn’t have enough line of sight to award the touchdown which saw a completely frustrated Taff’s Well side turning around at 8-0 down with probably 4-5 tries left out on the paddock.

Half-time Score:   Taff’s Well 0 v 8 Fairwater

Second Half

Thankfully, someone must have had the foresight to spike the half-time oranges for the home side as they set off in determined mood and early attacking sortie saw the ball stay in hand for centres Justin Jones and Ryan Smith to combine and put flying wing Ronan Barrett away to leave defenders in his wake to score in the right-hand corner - much to the relief of the crowd (apparently, some idiot missed the try on the match video camera when put in temporary charge of it, I’ve no official comment to make on this story other than I was officially following play for the match report and I can’t do two things at once). No successful conversion but Taff’s back very much back in it.

Upping the Tempo

The Taff’s Well back-row unit of flankers Rhys Green and Rhys Watkins in partnership with Max Watkins at No.8, were always in the thick of things during a bruising battle up front with Fairwater No.8 Sean Mansfield bringing his appetite for a contest to the table. The front row of props Atkin and James were doing their bit in the set-pieces as hooker Bradley James again showed great technique for some trade-mark hits. ‘Vet’ John Stephens was enjoying another rare game in the boiler room with Jon Barry and the pack continues to improve as the season goes on.

More Pressure but Rewards

Taff’s Well could smell blood and although another promising attack close to the whitewash saw them pinged for not releasing, another move saw prop Lloyd James break through the thirteen channel to scamper towards the posts as the cover struggled to regroup but with substitute second-rower Ethan Prescott on his inside, the cover did enough to draw him the other way for the ball to be knocked forward again.

Field Day

With the visitors under pressure and feeding a defending scrum on the 20m line, scrum-half Craig Field did what he had been doing all afternoon by swarming all over his opposite number for Taff’s Well to turn over possession which eventually saw flanker Watkins feeding prop Atkin on the charge to carry over a defender and put the home side in the lead for the first time as outside-half Brandon Thrasher did the honours by stroking over the extras for 12-8 lead. Although carrying a hamstring injury for much of the match, young Thrasher also managed to put some monster kicks under pressure to keep the smiles on the faces of his forwards.

Argy Bargy

Games played to this intensity always bring out the competitive spirit so there was no surprise when a bout of disagreement broke out but experienced referee Clemett made sure the toys were put back into the pram where they belonged and both packs proceeded to knock lumps out of each other within the rules. Fairwater were now chasing the game and although you felt the home side were in charge, that didn’t mean anything to the visitors as they broke from under pressure to take play down the right wing where Tottle’s speed credentials were again scrutinised as another straight foot race saw him defuse another potential bomb. The visitors were desperate not to leave empty-handed and only crunching tackles by substitute scrum-half Ashley Bonetto and a crashing try-saving man-and-ball effort from youth substitute winger Tom Cattle prevented the visitors from taking the spoils. With what seemed like an eternity through injury time, Taff’s Well had done enough to see off a determined Fairwater side in a match which showed on the blood-soaked players as they traipsed off the field – hard game, well reffed and a win that could make all the difference come the shakedown at the death.

Final Score:  Taff’s Well 12 v 8 Fairwater

The Verdict

There wasn’t much left on the field in terms of commitment from either side as the battle scars were visibly evident as these two sides continue to produce close battles with Taff’s Well again just managing to come away as the victors. In truth, the game should have been put away by half-time as chance after chance went begging and it looked like the rugby Gods must have had a bet on the game themselves. The team has a lot of gas in the tank and it took a far more clinical second half performance to see off a dogged Fairwater side who were still in it up until the end.

Fairwater Heart

The Fairwater pack is always the strength of the side with No.8 Sean Mansfield and hooker Jordan McDonald revelling in the close exchanges whilst behind, outside-half Liam Free showed some subtle and some not-too-subtle touches with full-back Jack Evans having a solid game in both attack and defence. They will be looking forward to the return fixture as the heat rises towards the business end with only eight games left.

Taff’s Top Performers

The handling still proves to be a concern for the coaches but when we do go wide and get it right, it’s great to watch as the pacemen make short work of covering defences. If the handling isn’t what we expect then the defence certainly is as the backs continue to nullify the attacking edge of their counterparts and there were some serious tackles going in which were not for the faint-hearted. The battle is still being fought up front as the set-pieces work well and the lineout a huge improvement from earlier in the season. There were good performances throughout with the whole back-row of the two Watkins and Rhys Green mixing it up and hooker Bradley James showing some great defensive touches… but the unanimous choice for the Man-of-the-Match goes to flanker Rhys Green who again proved that size doesn’t really matter as he put in tireless display making countless tackles to stand tall in a very physical battle between two very determined sides.

Coming up…

This Saturday sees the Veterans XV reformed (St. Johns and the local Priest has been informed) and playing Llantwit Fardre away KO 12.00pm, get along and cheer the guys who have worn the shirt with pride in the not-too-distant past. The Ladies will be travelling to face Croesyceiliog in a tough match so good luck to them both.

Dave Beese     davecbwales@gmail.com