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ELEVEN
TRY YSTRAD SURGE TO TOP OF THE LEAGUE
Ystrad
Rhondda 74 Abercynon 15
Ystrad
treated a healthy looking crowd to an eleven try feast last
Saturday against an Abercynon team whose worst defeat to
date had been a 32-10 loss at Ynysybwl.
The home side dominated all facets of play on a sun drenched
Gelligaled Park & quickly got the scorer working when
a lineout take by stand in second row Nathan Hughes resulted
in a powerful forward drive to the Abercynon line from which
prop Paul Dunning emerged with a try.
Another try looked on the cards when centre Gareth Pugh
cut through the Aber defense & found flanker Tom Hocking
& full back Dylan Jones in support, a last ditch tackle
kept the rampant looking Ystrad out & when second row
Hughes recycled the ruck ball outside half Wayne Jervis
sat back in the pocket to slot over a drop goal.
The visitors played their part in an expansive game &
after outside half Matthew Turner kicked a penalty they
were further rewarded for their endeavor when they scored
a try from a quickly taken penalty.
Wing Dan Hitchins has an exceptional turn of pace which
he put to good use when he launched a high ball & showed
good courage to climb high & re-gather before passing
to number eight Thomas Hetherington & on to Dunning,
from the ensuing ruck scrum half Chris Rees found Jervis
& a half break by centre Pugh allowed his fellow centre
Davies to get in behind the opposition & round the last
defender for a try Jervis converted.
It was a blow for Ystrad to lose flanker Hocking when he
left the field following a knee injury replaced by second
row Matthew Davies which saw Masin slotting into the back
row & making his mark with a big tackle on the Aber
number eight & turning the ball over.
Flanker Neil Walker got through a tremendous amount of work
including a few notable tackles on Turner which seemed to
unnerve the visiting fly half, Walker’s work was rewarded
when centre Pugh orchestrated another Ystrad attack when
he dispossessed an opponent & fed Davies, a well timed
inside ball by Davies to Dylan Jones allowed Jones to use
the supporting Walker who scampered over the try line.
Davies is relishing filling the massive void in midfield
left by injury to James Davies, the former Davies capitalising
after a solid Ystrad scrum where the front row of Dunning
, John Watkins & Dean Perry dominated allowed Jervis
to grubba kick through & the ball sat up nicely for
the centre to race clear & score under the posts for
Jervis to convert.
Saturday saw a welcome return to action for Hetherington
after a two match break & he showed his quality with
a pick up from the scrum & trademark handoff before
rounding the full back & scoring Ystrad’s fifth
try. Jervis converted.
With half time approaching the home outfit started to cut
loose, a break down the left touchline by full back Jones
& inside ball to wing Harry Allen saw the youngster
set up a ruck with the help of faultless Walker, a hit up
into midfield by Masin & quickly recycled ball allowed
Rees to feed Pugh & then Jervis who found centre Davies
hitting the angle at too great a speed for Abercynon. Davies
recording a first half try hat-trick which followed his
three from the previous game.
Davies was the centre of attention for their seventh try
when he burst through a gap & cleverly threw a long
inside pass which found Jervis who strolled under the posts
for a try & simple conversion.
Abercynon rallied well & completed their scoring when
a well executed lineout drive gave them a converted try
before Walker scored his second try after good work in the
loose by Davies & half break by Jervis.
These conditions really suited Ystrad & no more so than
flying wing Hitchins who followed up a break by Dylan Jones,
off load to Davies whose strength in the tackle allowed
him a pass to Hitchins, with the full back to beat Hitchins
took great pleasure in rounding the defender to score against
his former club. Jervis converted.
A mix up in the Aber midfield resulted in the loose ball
being gathered by Jervis, the outside half capping another
fine individual display when he raced clear for his second
try which he also converted.
With a painful afternoon for the Abercynon supporters almost
over a long kick was gathered by scrum half Rees which allowed
Jervis to put in a relieving clearance kick & when an
attempt by the away team to run the ball out of defense
broke down, turnover ball meant Jervis sent Davies through
a gap & a well timed pass given to Jones saw the full
back outstrip his opposite number for a well deserved try.
Jervis converted.
Although this was a solid all round team effort, mention
must be made of three outstanding individual performances
which were by Nathan Hughes, Neil Walker & Gerwyn Davies.
With Penallta slipping up for the second week running the
result leaves Ystrad two points in front of second place
Penallta with two games in hand.
This Saturday Ystrad have a difficult away match at local
rivals Treherbert.
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