Fixture

Saturday January 26^th 2019

Ystrad Rhondda 26 – 6 Maesteg Quins

WRU Championship

Prevailing monsoon rain left club photographer Rob Evans thinking he was capturing scenes for BBCs The Blue Planet and Jacques Cousteau would have been a good choice of commentator for this water-borne match.

Yet there wasn’t a single collapsed scrum, the game was expertly managed by the referee and remarkably, both teams tried to play expansively which made for a great afternoon’s viewing; sending out a message to the powers that be – matches can be played in the wet… the very wet.

Pleasingly Jack Picton returned after illness and Tom Bluck made the starting fifteen for the first time in a number of years.

In an end to end opening, Quins benefiting from first use of the tide and opened the scoring after fifteen minutes via a Rhodri Davies penalty.

Tom Bluck split open the home defence with a well-timed run onto a well-executed pass. Unfortunately, the final transfer went awry.

Ystrad got on top and after playing through multiple phases, the Quins defence was threadbare. Good passing put left-wing Sion Summers in at the corner. Cory Sheppard converted.

McGuckin skipped through, but the draw and give didn’t go quite as planned.

Replacement Owen Howe brought the Quins within a point of the hosts with a long-range penalty minutes before half time. During the break the rain poured down at an even greater rate of precipitation. Many believed that would be the end of the game, particularly when a brook emerged in the centre of the field and flowed down the Gelligaled slope.

Willing hearts meant the game went on. Losing a line-out, Quins had to halt a bulldozing run from the hefty home tight-head. Having sucked in defenders like a whirlpool drawing in sailing vessels, space was created out wide again. With clinical efficiency right-wing Kurtis Williams was released to score. Sheppard converted.

For the next thirty minutes, just when one team looked like closing or extending the scoring deficit, the weather or extraordinary defending erased the opportunity. Nathan Smith made some positive carries from the back of the scrum. Lewis Francis again showed his overall quality. Jack Picton also showed up well.

Buoyed up by a number of clever Tom Bluck cross-kicks and Geraint Evans chases, a Quins scrum penalty promised to cut the deficit to within bonus point range. However, even Owen Howe’s boot couldn’t match the gale force wind that had arrived, driving the rain at a horizontal angle. The blast pushed the ball harmlessly short of the target.

It was obvious the heavy field was taking its toll. Breaking through, Ystrad’s Liam Wiggins raced over the line and Sheppard converted to deny the Maesteg men the opportunity of a losing bonus point.

The final kick-off saw the hosts launch themselves into an all-out attack from their twenty-five to claim a fourth try. Quins were slow to react and by now they were running in diving boots. Effective passing saw Ystrad achieve their goal of maximum points with Cory Sheppard crossing the whitewash.

Such conditions often bring scores closer together, so it was a little disappointing the Quins did not to earn a bonus point, particularly with the opportunities they created. Still it was a positive performance and a really enjoyable match.

Quins sit just above the relegation trap-door and Ystrad moved into second spot.

Next week perennial promotion protagonists Narberth visit South Parade for the inaugural fixture between the two clubs. It is a scalp the Quins would love to gain to help keep them afloat in the Championship. Narberth want to reclaim their second spot. It promises to be an intriguing and exciting match.