Fixture

Bit of a change this week as we entertained Glyneath in the quarter finals of the Neath and District cup.  As Glyneath were having trouble with their lights it was decided to play the game in Banwen RFC. Glyneath 2nds play in the Mid District league so it was difficult to gage how their season was going but if past encounters were anything to go by we knew it was going to be a tough night. We arrived nice and early with a great squad and buoyed by our performance against Bonymaen the previous Saturday confidence was pretty high going into the game. We started off up the slope but this didn’t hinder us because for the first 15mins we played some great stuff with forwards and backs combining brilliantly, it was Glyneath though who opened the scoring with a well struck penalty. Back up we went and from an excellent driving lineout in the top right hand corner it was skipper Lindsay Jones who ploughed over with the help of his other 7 forwards, Bryn Davies missed the conversion. Glyneath were now getting into the game and even at this early stage they looked to spread the ball along the” line” to their speedy back 3. After a bit of pressure on our line they scored a well taken unconverted try. The last score of the half was a well struck penalty from Glyneath. Half time score Seven Seconds 5 – Glyneath 2nds 11. We were chuffed with how the first half went and we now had the advantage of the slight slope, but we were also cautious of their strike runners “behind” so if we were to kick for territory the plan was to get a good solid line up the field following the kick chase. As much as you can talk and plan for things to happen in certain areas during a game, there is one thing you can’t plan for and that’s “pace” and their full back in particular had gas in abundance and was causing havoc every time he had the ball in broken play. Although they were playing up the slope Glyneath were pretty dominant during the first 20mins scoring 2 converted tries + a penalty. Score to date was Glyneath 29 – Seven 2nds 11. The tie was slowly slipping away but full credit to us we didn’t give up and started a mini comeback. Firstly ubiquitous flanker Ricky Mitchell crashed over in the corner after sustained pressure from our pack in the bottom left hand corner, the difficult conversion went unconverted. Glyneath scored another converted try after a barnstorming run from their blindside flanker. We had the final say though and scored a try right at the death with skipper Lindsay crashing over for his second, this went unconverted with centre / flanker / head hunter!! Andrew Holloway missing from nearly in front of the post (sorry Holl had to mention it!!). So the final score was Glyneath Seconds 35 – Seven Seconds 15. It was an excellent game of rugby and Glyneath deserved the win and although we tackled manfully they had a bit too much pace for us to handle in their backs, but our forwards again put in a great shift. The last 4 games we have played, Pontardulais, Waunarlwydd, Bonymaen + Glyneath have all been really tough games against quality opposition but in each of those games we have come out with great credit and although the results haven’t gone our way we certainly matched each of those teams in different aspects of the game, so well done everyone for that. Big effort now boys with only a few league games left to cap off another fine season and good luck to Glyneath in the next round.