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Ystrad
Rhondda 18 Treherbert 6
In
spite of the attrocious weather conditions Saturday's local
derby gave Ystrad the opportunity to stay hot on the heels
of Division Two pacemakers Penallta.
With Ystrad having spent the last two seasons in Division
One a fixture between these two valley clubs has been sorely
missed by both spectators who get the chance to renew friendships
& players who welcome the opportunity to "iron
out" some off the field banter.
Forwards Coach Mike Griffiths is a firm believer in players
looking after themselves & the work his forwards put
in over the Christmas period was evident early on with numerous
driving lineouts allowing the home team to play much of
the first quarter camped in the Treherbert 22 & only
gallant defending by the visitors kept the scoreboard clean.
The weather dictated the winning team would be the one who
had the most organised lineout, a solid scrum, an outside
half who could keep his forwards going in the right direction
& a full back who was confident under the high ball
& Ystrad had the edge in just about all four facets.
Outside half Wayne Jervis opened the scoring with a well
taken drop goal, this following a powerful surge into midfield
from quick scrum ball by wing Gareth Fear.
Another good lineout take by Captain Chris Hanly & drive
into the opposition half saw Jervis send up a high ball
which the Treherbert full back failed to control & with
the Ystrad forwards making themselves available in midfield
which is a ploy they use time & again each training
session the ball was shipped along the line from Paul Dunning,
playing a lead role in the unaccustomed blindside flanker
position, to Hanly who gave a try scoring pass to prop Neil
Jones.
A Treherbert flanker was shown a yellow card for constantly
infringing at the breakdown & notwithstanding the fact
Treherbert visited Ystrad's 22 only three times in the first
half outside half Gareth Roberts slotted over two penalties
to a late Jervis strike to make the interval score 11-6
in favour of the home team.
Without adding to the score until late in the game Ystrad
continued to dominate with Hanly & hooker John Watkins
having a good afternoon in the lineout, prop Chris Waygood,
second row Nathan Hughes & Dunning getting through an
enormous amount of work in the loose & behind the pack
scrum half Chris Rees supplying decent ball for Jervis to
dictate affairs with a sound display of kicking out of hand.
Ystrad introduced Daniel Mathews at tight head for Waygood
(or "Waytogood" as one supporter remarked) &
reshuffled the pack to bring on second row Greg Booth for
Neil Jones.
When Ystrad pressurised a late Treherbert scrum slow ball
sent along the line was cleverly intercepted by wing Fear
who showed a good turn of pace to race clear & allow
Jervis to seal victory with a conversion.
Should Ystrad win their game in hand they will move into
second place only three points behind leaders Penallta &
with a chance to progress to the last sixteen in the Konica
Minolta Cup with a win over Newport Saracens a week Saturday
there is a feeling of excitement around the club at the
moment.
This Saturday Ystrad are away to Rhydyfelin, bus leaves
the club at 12.30
Teamates & officials would like to congratulate Nathan
Rees, Harry Allen & Masim Al Azzawi who helped Cardiff
Blues U20's retain the Reebok Regional Championship with
a 21-8 victory over the Ospreys for whom Daniel Mathews
played his part.
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