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Beddau
14 Ystrad Rhondda 13
Ystrad
narrowly failed to earn a rare double when they were just
pipped at the post by Division One side Beddau at Caerphilly's
Virginia Park in a hard fought final of the Worthington
Mid District Cup.
Looking back over a hugely successful season which has seen
the valley's club bounce back from being relegated from
Division One to claiming the Division Two title, an achievement
which has underlined the character shown by every member
of the squad & praise must also go to the two most influential
people who have guided them, not only back to the higher
league but to the last sixteen in the Konica Minolta Cup
& also to the final of the District Cup, coaches Alan
Roberts & Mike Griffiths.
Such has been the excitement at the business end of the
season Ystrad had two coach-loads of supporters travel to
Caerphilly & their team started with more purpose than
Beddau, Captain Chris Hanly dominating the early lineout
exchanges & from one Ystrad driving lineout the ball
was spread to full back Paul Matthews entering the line
at pace, when the move broke down Beddau were penalised
for offside. Outside half Dylan Jones stepped up to knock
over the games first penalty.
Yst also had the upper hand in the scrums where the front
row of Neil Jones, Carl Facey & Dean Perry stood out
& with a Beddau defensive scrum in trouble Ystrad pinched
the ball through lively scrum half Ben Daniels which allowed
outside half Jones to catch the opposition off guard &
he offered a well timed pass to centre Gerwyn Davies, Davies
combining his pace, strength & aggression to shrug off
two defenders & cross under the posts for Jones to add
the conversion & open up a ten point advantage.
Second row Greg Booth had to leave the field with a rib
problem which cut down on Ystrad's lineout options, replacement
Hywel Stoddart though continues to improve & soon got
involved with several powerful carries up the middle &
a few trademark tackles.
Ystrad were dealt the first of two cruel blows when centre
Davies received a yellow card for a high tackle, this after
the Ref called a Beddau second row aside & awarded only
a penalty for him punching at a maul.
Beddau profitted from the man advantage when their outside
half slotted over two penalties to make the half time score
10-6.
The second half was another tense affair which Ystrad will
remember for the tireless effort put in by the back row
trio of Nathan Hughes, Neil Walker & Thomas Ferris allied
to a few moments of class by full back Paul Matthews &
wing Dan Hitchins but it was Beddau who clawed their way
further back into the game with a penalty.
Davies' re-introduction from the sin bin coincided with
Jones kicking his second penalty of the night to edge Yst
13-9 & set up a nail-biting last quarter.
As a mark of respect for the hard work the squad has put
in throughout the year coaches Roberts & Griffiths attempted
to give their replacements a taste of the action, John Watkins
& Chris Waygood coming on for props Neil Jones &
Dean Perry, Tom Hocking replacing Neil Walker on the flank
& Gareth Fear having the last fifteen minutes on the
wing instead of Dean Jones.
With the Ystrad team fronting up well to a stubborn Beddau
outfit the man in the middle felt that backchat from Dylan
Jones warranted a yellow card which many of the crowd saw
to be a critical & harsh decision, that said Ystrad
had chances to further their lead when their forward pressure
culminated in them crossing the Beddau line on four separate
occasions, each time the match official claiming the ball
was held up.
It wasn't to be for Ystrad & with Beddau soaking up
a constant barrage of attacks it soon became their turn
to change defence into attack with them benefitting from
a man overlap when former Ystrad player Elia Pellegrotti
gave a try scoring pass out wide to edge the contest.
Every Ystrad player looked understandably dejected at the
final whistle but in the eyes of the vast majority they
can feel hard done by, coaches Roberts & Griffiths are
looking to strengthen their squad for the challenge of Division
One next year but will very much hope to build the squad
around the current team & will look forward to working
with several of this season’s youth team who will
be joining the senior ranks.
Any local players looking to join Ystrad & challenge
themselves in Division One contact Mike Davies on 07939613616
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