News

Saturday September 4^th 2021

Neath 13 – 16 Maesteg Quins

Group 3 WRU Championship Cup

If the first quarter of the reverse fixture between the clubs proved to be the most influential period of attacking rugby in Quins’ history, the final ten minutes of this match against Neath, at the Gnoll, in a Championship Cup group match, could well top the list of Quins’ historical rear-guard actions.

This was a ‘must win’ encounter. Group leaders Maesteg Quins could seal top spot with victory. Neath had to win order to pressurize the Quins status. The tension often overflowed, to confirm the commitment to the victory cause of all players.

Early on, Neath’s Steffan Williams and David Langdon used the boot to pump the Quins deep into their own half. The hosts initial territory monopoly was broken by Tadgh McGuckin’s sleight of hand, when he put Jakob Williams through a tiny gap. Reaching the Neath twenty-five, the hosts didn’t release at the ruck and Owen Howe goaled the penalty.

Tackling a Neath player without the ball was not a good idea. Mouthing back at the referee to make the kick ten yards easier was immature. Still Neath could not find the target. The Gnoll side didn’t miss their second shot at goal a few minutes later, when Steffan Williams levelled the score for not rolling away.

Line-out shenanigans heaped pressure on the Quins, who were adjudged to have defied the laws several times in their attempts to disrupt the home driving maul. Eventually, the Quins got it right and turned the ball over on the try-line.

After all that hard line-out defensive work, a pointless late tackle after a kick ahead handed Neath the lead with a Williams penalty.

Nathan Ace was taken out when chasing up the re-start, but the kick drifted wide and worse was to come for the Quins.

First up tackling from both clubs was good. On one occasion Neath used their pace to breach the gain-line and make great ground. Isolated, wing James Roberts was penalized for holding on. The second time Neath made no mistake. Breaking the outer midfield channel, Neath’s support play and passing was good. Full-back Luke Griffiths scorched over and Williams converted.

Closing in on the half, Quins produced a wonderful period of recycling. Winning a penalty, Owen Howe planted the kick and the half-time whistle sounded with the score 13-6 in Neath’s favour.

It was a cagey start to the second half. Neath used the boot to push the Quins back great distances with expert, often sublime accuracy. It appeared they were in ‘lead protection’ mode. This was partly the result of the Quins possession rate increasing. This was partly due to the Quins scrum. Akeem Eubank-Anderson put enough pressure on his opposite numbers to gain a few penalties, from a referee who did very well with his scrum decisions.

Yet, despite the tireless efforts to break down the Neath midfield, there was little success. A change of tactic was needed and it wasn’t long before an adjustment occurred.

Another intricate move pushed the ball out to a wider grouping of attackers. Owen Howe’s perfectly weighted grubber kick caught out the rigidly set defence. Ryan Lovett had to get to the ball before the turning, covering defenders. Secondly, he had to muscle his way through a body or two. In an absolutely remarkable display of pace and determination, lurcher like Lovett outstripped the Neath defenders and dived on the ball before it went dead. Howe converted. Quins were level, the game was back on.

Quins’ defence too was exceptional. Tacklers came in twos and on the rare occasions Neath slipped through, someone was always on hand to bring the carrier down.

Neath were becoming masters of their own downfall as their discipline declined. A Quins fly-hack and chase was sufficiently dealt with by the Neath back-three, only for the referee to run back and award the Quins a penalty for an off-the-ball incident. Howe hit the target and the Quins were back in front.

This single act of foul play had a greater impact on the game and group standings than initially thought. What transpired highlighted the folly of conceding this particular penalty.

Moving towards and into the final ten minutes, the penalty count went vastly against the Quins. Instead of Neath being able to kick a simple goal to take the lead and close out the match, they had to boot to touch.

All game the referee held back from using his cards, even though he had plenty of opportunities to do so. In the final ten, tense, nail-biting minutes, he produced more cards than Loxleys.

Determined to keep Neath out, the Quins defensive effort was memorable, remarkable and phenomenal, in equal massive measures. Holding firm, line-out drive after line-out drive to the chorus of: “Neath, Neath, Neath…” were repelled, but it came at a cost. Little by little, one by one the Quins pack were reduced to seven, then six, then five. Still there was no submission, no retreat, no surrender. A steely exhibition of extreme defiance, a desire to compete to the last breath that could have been accompanied by John Barry’s Zulu soundtrack.

Despite little to suggest the home driving maul would make the line, home support screamed for a penalty try. Nathan Ace was at the centre of marshalling the set-piece defensive effort in near ‘Rourke’s Drift’ proportions, with a supreme calm and level headedness. The twelve on the field were the ones left to do the defending, because they were there. Nobody else. Just them. What a job they did.

Neath tried pushing the ball wide and the Quins back-line were summoned to defend. The Welsh All Blacks crossed the line, but could only do so by using a forward pass.

Back play went for another penalty, an eighth line-out. Then relief - the Neath throw-in went wayward. Then a second home throw-in went off the straight and narrow.

Still there was time to play and spinning the ball out to the left touch-line, speedy Luke Griffiths was put in space. A single error would see Neath snatch the game at the death from the ‘Dirty Dozen.’ Ryan Lovett hared across field and his second major intervention, a perfectly executed strong tackle, allowed others to scramble into the depleted line. Recycling, Neath got to within feet of making a score. Still, the dragon hearted Quins, fuelled by pure pride, built yet another formidable defensive line to force a knock-on and full-time was called. If only the extra-special feeling at the final whistle could be bottled.

This was an extraordinary victory that puts the Quins into the upper tier of the competition. A superb achievement that everyone can be proud of.