Gogs look to reverse back-to-back losses
FOLLOWING rare back-to-back losses, RGC will aim to rediscover winning ways when they host Bargoed in the Premiership this Saturday.
Mark Jones’ side fell to their first away defeat of the season when they went down 35-22 at Carmarthen last weekend.
The match opened in frantic fashion with both sides attacking at pace from the whistle.
Carmarthen took the lead with an Aled Thomas penalty after 10 minutes.
The home side were having the better of the play and began to cause some problems to the North Walians.
As with the past couple of games, RGC were giving the ball away on a few occasions, which was easing any pressure on Quins.
RGC did grab the opening try, and it came from some broken play. Winger Sam Jones collected a loose pass on halfway and chipped the ball ahead before Dion Jones picked it up and ran in to score. Billy McBryde added the extras.
Quins answered back a minute later, after the visitors could not deal with the restart and Dylan Morgan went over in the corner.
RGC regained the lead with a McBryde penalty, but, once again, they muffed the kick-off and pressure was back on them. That pressure increased with a Josh Leach yellow card before Quins winger Morgan grabbed his second try of the game.
Credit to RGC as they defended with a man down and, as the game neared the break, they built some good phases but could not break through the Quins 22 metre line. They ended the half in positive attacking fashion but Carmarthen were 13-10 up at the interval.
The second half opened as a midfield battle as both sides grappled to take control of the game. Spaces on the pitch started to appear, as the pace and tackling began to take its toll.
Afon Bagshaw found a gap but was pulled back when it looked like an overlap was on.
Quins once again began to test the RGC defence and the visitors gave the ball away too easily. When Rhys Williams knocked on at the halfway line, pressure returned on his side.
Carmarthen had a couple of scrums on the RGC five-metre line, and the Gogs did brilliantly to win a penalty to ease the building pressure.
If that gave them confidence, then the resulting line-out knocked the wind from their sails and turned the game. They lost the ball on the throw in and Shaun Thomas grabbed the opportunity and punished them with the try. Aled Thomas added the conversion.
From the restart, McBryde’s kick went into to touch and, once again, Quins had possession and chance to control the play. RGC’s confidence was clearly knocked, and the momentum was with the home side, and they pushed on with ball in hand.
The game slipped away from RGC, and the assured boot of Thomas added a couple more penalties to make sure Carmarthen were out of reach.
Nothing really went right for RGC in the second half, with some poor choices of when to pass and they failed to make inroads into the Quins 22. The home side were not really tested in defence, mainly due to RGC’s lack of edge on composure with the ball.
Quins ended the game with the bonus point try after the maul rumbled over and Hayden Pugh put the ball down. Thomas added the extras.
RGC did get on the scoreboard with a couple of late tries, replacements Jordan Scott and Cam Davies crossing the whitewash. McBryde added a conversion but it was nothing apart from mere consolation.