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Blackwood
14 Ystrad Rhondda 10
In
spite of good recent away wins for Blackwood at Beddau &
Rumney the visitors went into this fixture with a high level
of confidence & things looked a little brighter for
Ystrad when two of their kickers spurned early penalty attempts.
Ystrad missed their first penalty effort by Wayne Jervis,
playing in the centre, following a turnover in midfield
by Nathan Hughes, Nathan back to his familiar position on
the flank & having a massive influence on a great forward
performance.
It was Ystrad who struck first when flanker Tom Hocking
was first to react to a long lineout throw, his pace took
him past Blackwood’s scrum half & a solid hand
off to the opposing left wing saw gallop into the corner
for a try.
Number eight Dai Owen felt hard done by as the referee showed
him a yellow card for a ruck infringement in centre field,
Blackwood’s inside centre slotting over for three
points, the penalty seemed to spark the home side into life
& they soon scored a try by creating an overlap up the
blindside.
A further penalty on the stroke of half time afforded Blackwood
an 11-5 interval lead.
Blackwood’s kicker capped a fine individual performance
with another penalty but it was Ystrad who had the lion’s
share of possession in the third quarter, a series of wrong
options coupled with a good defensive effort by the hosts
kept the visitors at bay. Even with ten minutes to go &
after replacement prop Paul Dunning received a yellow card
for his part in a mass brawl the visitors still looked capable
of snatching the honours. Good ball retention by the forwards
with Carl Facey, Craig Griffiths, Captain Chris Hanly &
Nathan Hughes to the fore allowed scrum half Marc Jones
to set his backline in motion with the ball going through
five phases & good hands shown by fit again centre Gerwyn
Davies & wing Dean Jones saw Hughes use the narrow side
wisely & brilliantly offload in the tackle to full back
Geraint Shalton who darted up the touchline, Shalton’s
inside overhead pass just as he was about to be bundled
into touch allowed wing Jones to juggle the ball before
touching it down.
The losing bonus point may prove vital as the season progress’
but Ystrad will view last Saturday’s game as another
they could have won.
The pick of the Ystrad forwards was last season’s
player of the year Nathan Hughes who was a constant thorn
in Blackwood’s side & of the backs it was pleasing
to see the return to action of centre Gerwyn Davies.
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