Saturday, December, 16th, 2017.
Maesteg Quins 24 – 22 Aberafan Quins
WRU Division 1 West Central
Led for the first time by out-half Rhodri Davies, Maesteg Quins entertained their Aberafan namesakes, in a real curate’s egg of a performance for both teams.
It started ominously for Aberafan. Firstly they put the kick-off straight into touch. When penalised at the scrum that followed, from the ensuing line-out Andrew Healy drove over within two minutes.
Soon after Maesteg launched an attack from a stolen line-out. A pin-point pass from Rhodri Davies split an Aberafan defence unable to make up the extra yards their attacking alignment had created. Kieran Watkins was on his way and drawing the final defender, he sent Geraint Evans over to round-off the seventy yards move. Rhodri Davies converted.
A constant stream of penalties stemmed from Maesteg’s imperious scrum, as the brothers Ronan and Lewis Francis dominated. Additionally, Aberafan chanced their arm at the breakdown, only to suffer the vigilant referee’s wrath.
Centre Aled Edwards was forced to leave the field with a nasty cut that ran the entire length of his intimate masculine area. The stitch will be removed in time for the Maesteg derby. In the meantime Edwards will have to endure a devastating limp.
A two men Maesteg overlap needed a lofted pass to find them. It did, but the very nature of the transfer meant the hang-time allowed Aberafan to scramble back and prevent a certain try.
Quickly taking a tap penalty, livewire Ben Davies was tackled before he had covered the mandatory ten yards. A penalty try could have justifiably been awarded. The first yellow card was issued and scrum called, from which Davies snapped up the ball and nipped over the line.
Taking the restart, the catcher didn’t receive sufficient support. After possession had been coughed up, impressive visiting second row Callum Beynon hacked through to score. Mark Shepard converted from the touchline.
Despite a couple of charge downs and a lack of support for the ball-carrier ending a move or two, Maesteg remained in the ascendancy.
Aberafan threw everything at Maesteg’s defence. Customarily they would find Josh Mines sweeping up their carriers, followed by the next nearest player. Also, Kieran Watkins used all his guile to elude chasers when gathering kicks.
In the second period a series of scrums heaped pressure on the visitors and eventually, Mike Owen dropped over under the posts for a bonus point try. Davies converted. Then the wheels came off.
Ethel Murmon was right. Buoyed by the inclusion of a number of talented Cardiff University RFC students, Aberafan deployed a slow choke-hold. The plan was simple, but extremely effective and had their cohesion been as good at the start of the match as when it ended, they may well have taken the spoils.
Maesteg couldn’t use a cornucopia of possession to its full potential. Quick ball became elusive and Maesteg were quite simply busting a gut and trying too hard. A variation in their play would have kept Aberafan on their toes and paid greater dividends.
During the remaining half hour two unconverted tries from Cameron Douglas and one from a driving maul, brought the Seasiders to within a converted try of a draw with the last play.
Kicking the restart deep, despite every effort to snuff out the movement, Aberafan kept breaking through a Maesteg defence that was below its normal high standard.
Referee Chris Oliver had a superb game, but caused great confusion with his gesticulations that resembled semaphore communications. However, there was no mistaking his penultimate signal, taking his time before raising an arm to confirm the unbelievable, an Aberafan try that gained them two bonus points. With a conversion to come the visitors could have gleaned another precious league point, as well as deny Maesteg an eighth win. A crestfallen silence replicated the descending darkness that engulfed South Parade.
Having pushed their guest towards the periphery of the field, the wide angle and difficult wind meant the conversion attempt failed. Maesteg’s muted response to the final whistle was an acknowledgement of Aberafan’s raucous, typically spirited performance. Nevertheless, with Maesteg Quins picking up five points and Aberafan Quins two in their respective league quests, it made for a Quin-Quin, win-win situation.
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