Saturday, August, 19th, 2017.
Nantymoel 17–26 Maesteg Quins
Pre-season Match
With two previous pre-season hit-outs cancelled, for a Quins keen to prepare for the rigours ahead; it was nice to play Nantymoel, to play them nice.
Uncompromising hosts Nantymoel scored an unconverted try. Before the Quins went higher than a five with a Gavin Burridge touchdown and Siôn King conversion.
Nantymoel moved into a 10-7 lead with another try and were playing good running rugby.
Both teams botched chances. Supporting runners were ignored and handling was understandably variable.
However, passes often couldn’t be made due to the speed and ferocity of the defences. If Quins’ skipper Steve Williams’ example is followed, in a few weeks the defence could prove iron clad.
It was imperative to break the tit-for-tat scoring pattern You’d get nothing for conceding a pair, not in this game and it was the Quins who made telling consecutive scores.
A slick line-out move sent Dean Ronan over and Rhodri Davies converted. Then, as the Quins’ ploughed towards the line, Nantymoel chanced their arm and dived in at the base of the advancing scrum to concede a penalty try.
The Ogŵr valley club came back. Scoring to come within a try of levelling the tally, a further offload and neat angled run sent the home wing rounding under the posts. Yet, eagle eyed referee Richard Brace amid the protestations proved ‘I’m in charge’ and disallowed the effort for a faulty grounding.
Quins could ill afford to let Nantymoel back into the match. Scrum-half Joe Symons sniped constantly and he squirmed over to ensure the match ended positively for the Quins.
For the Quins, new recruit Rhodri Davies’ kicking display alone showed he is an excellent candidate for the out-half berth.
As rusty as both teams were it was a good game, good game and if both clubs play their cards right, they will do well in their respective leagues. Some good, clever rugby was played. With every player giving their respective coaches an abundance of selection headaches. Didn’t they do well?
On Thursday 24th, the Quins travel to Carmarthen Athletic.
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