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2013 Quins 37 – 10 Maesteg

ASDA Division Two (West)

Table topping Maesteg Quins out muscled a young, thoroughly determined Maesteg team, who were stirred by the usual inspiration a derby day match brings.

The Quins chief individual weapon was the line-out and driving maul… driving maul and the line-out. Their two weapons were the line-out and driving maul and ruthless efficiency. Their three weapons were line-out, driving maul and ruthless efficiency and a fanatical devotion to keeping the ball tight. The four… no amongst the weapons… .

The Quins started impressively, creating without scoring. A line-out steal preceded a forty yards drive. Going blind, the Quins released Ryan Lovett who stormed upfield, only for a handling error to end the move, just short of the line.

On the back of a series of infringements, the Quins had their first close range attacking opportunity, but the only Quins line-out malfunction allowed Maesteg to remain unscathed.

A poor Maesteg clearance kick, was gathered on half-way by Geraint Evans. The Quins full-back expertly chipped ahead and regained possession for his team. Ten yards from the Maesteg line, the move broke down and again the Old Parish survived.

Poor handling ended another promising move and to compound matters, back-chat gave Maesteg a penalty to clear their lines.

Maesteg made some excursions into the Quins half, but they were brief and extinguished with a ruthless efficiency.

A Nathan Smith line-out steal on the Quins ten yards line, was the catalyst for another long-range driving maul. Quins tried to spin the ball wide, but a thunderous tackle on Ryan Lovett threw him to the floor. A ruck infringement gave Gareth Lewis a simple kick to allow the Quins to take a 3-0 lead.

Maesteg took the lead within minutes. An attempted miracle pass went to ground, allowing Maesteg to hack through. In a high speed fifty yards foot race, Aled Davies scorched pass the final Quins defenders to touch down in the corner and Cory Butler converted.

Soon after, the Quins recorded their first try when a driving maul culminated in Sean Cleary dropping over the line. Gareth Lewis converted from a wide angle to give the Quins a 10-7 lead.

Another Nathan Smith line-out steal and another forty yards driving maul ended when Maesteg illegally dropped the advancing mass of bodies. A quick tap was stopped in its tracks and visiting hooker Bloomfield who had not retreated the regulation ten yards was not hard done by, he was a very naughty boy. He was shown yellow and the ball was booted to touch and in a carbon copy of his first try, Sean Cleary registered his second score.

A harsh call for a deliberate knock-on allowed Cory Butler to fire over an amazing fifty-two yards penalty, to bring the Old Parish to within five points of the Quins. Soon after half-time was signaled.

In the first minute of the second half, a twenty-five yards rumble went over the line, but the referee was unconvinced. He only delayed the inevitable, as a concerted scrum drive allowed Andrew Healy to pick up and score.

Cory Butler missed a penalty before the Quins finally took the game away from the Old Parish.

A precision display of bad temper tried to distract the Quins from their game, but this was short lived and the match settled down once more.

A raking touch-finder took the Quins from their own twenty-five into Maesteg’s. The visiting line-out was under pressure and the throw-in went awry. Maesteg were then penalised at the resulting scrum. A quick tap and three deft passes, saw Jay Ronan crossing the line for a bonus point try. Lewis converted.

Now the Maesteg challenge was no more. It ceased to be. It had expired, gone to meet it’s maker. It joined the choir invisible. Not that the Old Parish players knew it. What could possibly be the youngest Maesteg team ever, to their immense credit, few tackles were missed and they continually competed.

However, the Quins were in total ascendancy. The line-out play was exceptional, the driving mauls executed to perfection and the collective defensive play of the highest order. Owen Richards made a number of telling breaks, but it was up front where the Quins dominated with relative impunity.

And now the Quins tried something completely different, exploring other avenues of attack. However, their attempts to release Roberts, release Richards and release Robbie Morris to break Maesteg down were thwarted by a mixture of stubborn defence and illegal practices. Having not scored for a while, despite the pressure they were exerting on the Parish, Lewis elected to kick for goal and extend the Quins total to thirty points.

The referee didn’t fall for the ball killing tactics and another ruck infringement, resulted in another yellow card and another kick to touch. The driving maul lurched forward and just as it was about to lose momentum, reinforcements from the back-line piled in. Much to the chagrin of visiting followers, the referee deliberated over the try award, but he’s allowed to do it and came to the correct decision in awarding Sean Cleary his hat-trick try on his hundredth appearance.

Lewis converted to set the seal on a hard fought, but convincing 37-10 victory and while it cast a gloom over proceedings for the Old Parish, the Quins were left to look on the bright side of life.

15. Geraint Evans 14. Ryan Lovett 13. Robbie Morris 12. Andrew Leighton
11. Owen Richards 10. Gareth Lewis(c) (3C 2PG) 9. Lee Ronan
1. Dan Tabor 2. Jay Ronan (T) 3. Dean Ronan 4. Carl Roberts
5. Nathan Smith 6. Sean Cleary (3T) 8. Andrew Healy (T) 7. Lewis Tutt
Replacements
16. Nick Flay for L. Ronan 17. Morgan David N. Smith
18. Gavin Burridge for L. Tutt 19. Rhodri Roberts for J. Ronan

1996 Maesteg Quins 26 – 15 Cefn Cribbwr

WRU Division 7

After a fortnight of cup match and non-league fixtures, it was back to league action for the Quins with a match against the ever combative Cefn Cribbwr.

Eventually it turned out to be a comfortable victory, with the Quins playing a little more expansively than their traditional game allowed, as they attempted to be less predictable and add something more to the game.

The forwards sucked in the Riders defence before the ball was released at speed to the three-quarters. However, the tries came from tight moves with the tired Cefn Cribbwr defenders unable to cover sufficiently.

Playing into a gale, Quins won a penalty way out on the touchline, near half-way. As Ryan John lined up an ambitious shot at goal in the glutinous mud, Dai Berry turned to Lynsey Davies and wagered: ‘’I bet you a fiver he kicks it.’’

‘’You’re on,’’ replied Lynsey.

John squelched through his run-up, only to slip in the quagmire just as he planted his left leg in the sludge – and nudging the ball with his right toe, it trickled a couple of inches forward as he fell flat onto his back in the mud.

‘’I told you he’d kick it,’’ said Dai, holding out his hand for his fiver.

15. Martin Wilkshire (T) 14. Darren Jones 13. Jonathon Vincent 12. Geraint Harvey

11. Gavin Thomas (T) 10. Ryan John (C 3PG) 9. Darren Phelps (T)

1. Andrew Kidger 2. Shane Williams 3. Lee Sparrow (c) 4. Ryan David 5. Derek Adams

6. Peter Jenkins 8. Mark Petty 7. Neil Davies 16. Kevin Thomas 17. Jason King

18. Terry Adams rep. Phillip Pratt

1996 Glyncorrwg II 7 – 31 Quins II

MGDRU DIV 2

Going into this second league fixture of the season on the back of two heavy defeats wasn’t easy. It wasn’t made easier by the fact this match would be against upper Afan valley protagonists Glyncorrwg. Saying that, one defeat was against a first XV, the other versus a strong Heol-y-Cyw side.

Regardless of some unknowing prevailing views, the seconds had been transformed from the unit that was regularly beaten in previous years. They were capable of and played with a plan.

Consequently they were under no illusions as to how they had to play and for the best part of a fortnight, the game-plan for this league match had been hammered home. Simple really, Glyncorrwg derived great pleasure from playing with a blinkered physicality, therefore, when possible, the Quins were to avoid contact and put people into space. The better supporting players practiced where and when to run. A healthy five try victory was the reward.                                                                            

15. Robert Evans (T) 14. Andrew Winston (T) 13. Jason Thomas (C)

12. Andrew Rossiter 11.Robin Bevan 10. P.G. Evans (2C)  9. Geraint Jones (2T)

1. Gareth Bowen 2. Lindon Jenkins (c) 3. Ross Waite 4. Larry Davies

5. Jamie Harrison 6. Leighton Walters 8. Paul Edwards (T) 7. Peter Bowen

16. J. W. Thomas 17. Steven Donahue 18. M. Thomas 19. David Jenkins

20. Wayne Francis