Fixture

Saturday November 9^th 2019

Trebanos 3 – 9 Maesteg Quins

Specsavers Championship

Quins wins at Trebanos are as scarce as a Block 42 Kalimna Cabernet Sauvignon. This victory should be slurped, savoured and swallowed with the same relish as the rare red. 

To rationalise the Quins’ ecstatic outpouring at the final whistle, perhaps the sentiments of former tennis ace Vitas Geralitis need to be borrowed: Maesteg Quins do not travel to any club and get beaten eight times in succession! However, this is only a partial explanation. Inter-mingled with the joy of finally putting one over an away day nemesis, were substantial measures of relief and satisfaction of a mission accomplished.

The tale of the table saw the coal blacks and blood reds stand a bonus point victory above the Ancient Borough. A win would see them edge closer to the semi-pro section of the Championship. After a tough seasonal start, Banws wanted to pull away from the border of the bottom four.

Weather and field conditions meant the likelihood of an abrasive dogfight. Coupled with fierce, fast charging defences; despite efforts to spread the ball and implement sleight of hand, the match was a muddy melee.

Trebanos dominated the early stages. Errors, plus the Quins’ unfamiliarity with the official’s interpretation of breakdown laws accommodated this. However, when pressurised in their twenty-five, the visiting defence proved stout and near flawless.

Tom Dew put in a perfect, low trajectory cross kick. Wing Kieran Whiteman didn’t have to break stride and a score looked imminent. Somehow Geraint Evans pulled-off a tackle. Ryan Lovett was in close proximity and always willing to get stuck in, he turned over possession for Matthew Harris to belt the ball away.

Soon after Evans was again in the thick of it. Gathering an infield clearance, he jinked his way through several tackle attempts. His thirty yards run was halted on half way. Popping a pass it wasn’t taken and the first Quins opportunity to cause damage ended.

Another more sustained movement was abruptly terminated when a visiting attacker thought the referee needed the benefit of his opinion.

As always Francis, Steve Williams and Burridge completed their individual tasks and volunteered for extra duties. Since the moment they joined the club, Nathan Ace and Cameron Thomas have exhibited the same commitment, quality and have rapidly become cult figures among the Quins following. In this match Thomas’ immaculate set-piece work complimented his carrying and defensive exertions. Crash test dummies take less impact than the Quins hooker, as he relentlessly popped up to carry or tackle with the regularity of a grandfather clock’s ticking pendulum.

It was the host’s defence that was first to flinch on the half-hour. Rarely in the opening half did the Crows concede consecutive penalties. From an indiscretion the Quins line-out implemented a massive driving maul. Raising an attacker’s legs above the horizontal at a ruck beneath the posts, Tadgh McGuckin goaled the penalty.

The second half kick-off went out on the full. Playing down the slope, Trebanos applied the thumb screws. Wing Whiteman was worked over and with no complaints from the Quins defenders it looked as though Banws had taken the lead. Every credit must be given to the home linesman. Epitomising his club’s motto: “chwarae gorau chwarae teg”, he raised his flag signalling a foot in touch. Not that the Quins need reminding, but it just adds further proof that Trebanos are a club where everything good about the game of rugby football is part of their DNA.

While the referee sanitised the breakdown to cause the Quins problems for the greater part of the game, he was spot on. In doing so, the precipitation induced slug fest was not allowed to descend into a muddy farce. 

Quins were penalised at a non-existent ruck. Brunton’s kick fell short for the hosts and finally the Maesteg men cottoned on to the official’s breakdown outlook. This proved decisive in the remaining half hour.

Like an intravenous saline solution finely inserted by Dr. Lewis, Quins’ front-row replacements were delicately drip-fed into play. Rhydian Jenkins entered the fray and instantly worked in harmony with the rest of the pack to place pressure on a tiring Trebanos scrum. Then came Kieran Griffiths and the resulting penalties gave the Quins vital opportunities to clear or obtain points. When the front three triumvirate changes were complete, Dan Tabor-charged scrums raced forward at a rate of knots. 

On the hour mark came a Quins purple patch and McGuckin split the uprights with a penalty from a retreating scrum.

If the scrum was a potent weapon, the line-out proved flawless throughout. Wherever the ball was thrown. Healy, Williams and Ace secured quality ball even against sizeable, athletic opponents as they worked in concert with Thomas and Jenkins.

A side entry at a rapidly moving driving line-out led to McGuckin’s third successful penalty. The cheers that met the successful kick was a manifestation of the raw relief at moving the Quins tally beyond a singled goaled try.

Helpless in the face of a strong scrum surge, Trebanos conceded another penalty in their twenty-five. With a ‘free-play’ on offer, McGuckin attempted a cross kick. Unfortunately, the chasers were in front of the kicker and even worse, the opportunity to return to the penalty and further strengthen their position was forfeited because of a moment of pointless, puerile, petulance.

Instead of being twelve points ahead, Quins found themselves defending their own line. The level of comfort that would have been enjoyed with a dozen points on the board was significantly decreased when Brunton kicked his team’s first points. Trebanos were within a goaled try of snatching victory.

Going through an energy sapping period of possession play, Quins popped passed and probed close to the breakdown. The referee’s ethos of keeping the disruption of the contact area to an absolute minimum now worked in the Quins favour. 

Two things a dominant pack needs are; a No. 8 to control scrum ball and half-backs making the right decisions. Mike Owen kept the ball in order. Behind him, Cam Jones and McGuckin were tuned in throughout. Despite the difficult circumstances, they competently executed their actions. They varied their play very well but above all, their decision making was top drawer.

Constant defensive-line cavalry charges quickly closed down available space. Still McGuckin kept Trebanos guessing. When running he would draw in tacklers, narrowing the defence to give the carriers who followed a little space to exploit.

Songhurst and Harris corroborated a useful defensive partnership and also showed good hands when an opportunity arose. Returning Jack Picton’s fine clearing up work was showcased by his spiralling clearance kicks that proved a real feature.

With the Quins applying a firm stranglehold in the final ten, the ‘Ancient Borough’ had to take more risks in search of a match winning try. In the conditions and in the face of a determined Quins defence, this proved a bridge too far for the hosts. 

Four more league points kept the Quins in the top half of the table with a job and all the basics well done. For once after a gruelling, physical, fraught, nemesis defeating, league points gathering eighty minutes; the coal blacks and blood reds tasted victory at the Recreation Ground… because let this be known: Maesteg Quins do not travel to any club and get beaten eight times in succession!