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MATHEWS
HOLDS KEY TO CUP WIN
Garndiffaith
8 Ystrad Rhondda 21
With
an unfavourable weather forecast & the fact the home
team tied with Div 1 Newbridge in midweek few in Ystrad
would have relished a trip to a pitch situated in the middle
of a housing estate just north of Pontypool, however the
Ystrad players soon warmed to the task in hand.
The visitors used this Konica Minolta cup match to give
several fringe players, including a few who are still eligigable
for the youth, a run out & they impressed from the off
when lock Lee Blower, who recently rejoined the club from
Llanharan, gathered from the Ystrad kick off & started
a forward drive which picked up momentum until the Garn
five yard line, young scrum half Ben Daniels shipped the
ball out to outside half Dylan Jones who swithed to the
blindside with a long pass to inside centre Paul Mathews,
Mathews on dual from Pontypridd, stepped inside his man
to glide over for a well worked try, converted by Wayne
Jervis playing in an unfamiliar position of full back.
Ystrad's forwards gained the upper hand in the loose where
flanker Nathan Hughes was the pick of the pack & props
Neil Jones & Chris Waygood always looked comfortable
with ball in hand both making good yards into midfield &
well supported by inspirational captain Chris Hanly, Hanly
having another industrious game at number eight.
Following another forward drive initiated by Blower &
Hughes the Garn defenders were guilty of kiiling ruck back
which enabled Jervis to further the visitors lead with a
well struck penalty before left wing Dean Jones struggled
to deal with a kick ahead on the greasy surface & found
himself playing the ball when lying on the floor for which
he received a yellow card as punishment & the home team
outside half slotted over the penalty.
Centre Mathews gave a massively positive contribution behind
the pack with his well balanced running & ability to
read the game, Garndiffaith were again penalised after Mathews
broke the gain line & the home team prevented quick
ruck ball,Jervis added the three points & struck over
a further penalty from near the half way line to give the
visitors an encouraging half time lead of 16-3.
Conditions including driving rain worsened in the second
half which was largely uneventful, hooker Carl Facey returning
from holiday replaced John Watkins, Thomas Hetherington
went on in place of second row Andrew Carbis & late
in the game Ben Daniels, who stuck to the task with vigour,
made way for Chris Rees.
The lineouts were somewhat of mess for both teams &
when Ystrad failed to find their jumper near the half way
line the Garn second row leapt highest to claim the lineout
& race down the touchline for an unconverted try &
keep their interest alive.
After the Garn openside was yellow carded for constantly
infringing Ystrad had a good passage of play & saw the
ball going through many sets of hands resulting in centre
Paul Mathews appearing at least twice in the move &
finishing off a great individual performance with a try
in the corner to settle a comfortable victory.
Hopefully this week the coaches will have a selection headache
with centres James Davies & Gareth Pugh plus full back
& utility back Blanche Phillips & Nathan Rees expected
to make training ahead of crucial league games versus Mountain
Ash & Penallta.
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