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Penallta
21 Ystrad Rhondda 14
It’s
fair to say Ystrad have had somewhat of a disjointed start
to their new campaign in Division One East with several
regulars missing from the first game versus Bargoed due
to wing Dean Jones getting married & last Saturday they
had to travel without injury victims Hywel Stoddart, Dylan
Jones, Harry Allen & Gerwyn Davies. That said a new
look Ystrad were confident & buoyed by the fact Potypridd’s
Chris Clayton was released to play on dual, it was the home
side who soaked up the early Ystrad pressure & with
wing Jamie Wicks sucked into an Ystrad ruck just inside
the Penallta half turnover ball at the ruck afforded Penallta
a three man overlap & allowed their wing to cross for
a try out wide.
Top official James Jones had to be on his guard for misdemeanours
at the breakdown area, Jones awarding Ystrad a second penalty
in as many minutes, Captain & outside half Wayne Jervis
stepping up to register his side’s first points.
The Ystrad scrum had a great afternoon with the front row
of Neil Jones, Thomas Hetherington & Dai Webb gradually
getting the upper hand over their opponents & the lineout
performed relatively well, second row’s Anthony Shellard
& Nathan Hughes providing a good source of possession
for scrum half Marc Jones, Jones had a fine league debut
at scrum half, choosing to keep an up beat tempo to the
game with several quick tap penalties one of which should
have resulted in an Ystrad try but for the final pass going
astray when centre Liam Phillips looked to be racing under
the posts.
It was however Penallta who struck again, utilising their
quick wide men to score another try from inside their own
half & an exchange of penalties & a Jervis drop
goal meant the half time score was 16-9 in favour of the
hosts.
A cruel blow for Ystrad at half time saw influential flanker
Neil Jones leave the field & spend the night in hospital
with concussion.
The second half pretty much mirrored the first both teams
entertaining the sun drenched crowd with open rugby, centre
Gareth Pugh constantly getting in behind the Pen defence
with his powerful hand off & clever running angles,
one Pugh burst allowed the visitors to set up camp deep
in the home team’s twenty two & Ystrad looked
likely to gain a pushover try, good alertness by prop Neil
Jones from a penalty when the scrum broke up saw Jones pass
to Masin Al Azzawi, the flanker crossing for a try to set
up a nail biting final quarter with the scores at 16-14
to the visitors.
Both teams used all five replacements in what was an energy
sapping afternoon, Coaches Alan Roberts & Mike Griffiths
after conceeding another try to Penallta’s wing were
confident of victory until the final minutes & they
both acknowledged that Saturday’s performance was
far better than the previous week but would have traded
in a poorer display for a win.
This week Ystrad entertain Caerphilly at Gelligaled Park
where they will be hoping several of the injured personnel
declare themselves available for selection.
Ystrad seconds had a morale boosting victory
over Porth 22-10 with tries for Alex Gill, Marc Street,
Neil Andrews & Andrew Pand plus a conversion for Rhys
Jonathan. The game saw Ystrad legend Steffan Jonathon playing
a full eighty minutes as scrum half at the age of fifty-four.
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Rhianydd
Edmunds & Dean Jones
Congratulations
to Rhianydd and Dean who tied the knot on 13th September.
Best wishes to you both for your future together from
all at the Rugby Club
click
hers to view wed pics
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