Good away win for Taff’s Well in close encounter

FAIRWATER .................. 14 TAFF’S WELL ................ 15

With eight players injured or unavailable, this game was always going to test the strength of the Taff’s Well squad.

And the day got off to a rather inauspicious start with the news that Fairwater could not raise a front-row so that passive scrums were going to be standard fare for the day, the rules stating that Fairwater would have to end the game with the same 15 that started – no subs allowed.

With both packs squaring up in a very physical contest, Fairwater struggled to get any platform in the Taff’s Well half but, after a mix-up, Taff’s Well were penalised, outsidehalf Tom McAloon missing the opportunity to open the scoring.

After a bustling kick and chase down the right, new signing and debutant second-row Ieuan Parsons opened his Taff’s Well scoring account with a try, the conversion wide.

After soaking up pressure, Fairwater started to get some moves together and could have been rewarded if not for a penalty miss, which saw a Taff’s Well break for Matthew Desmier to hustle a bustle a kick-through follow-up to give Parsons the opportunity to score a carbon copy try of his first.

The half was to finish with Taff’s Well again on the attack but having to settle for a 10-0 lead.

After the restart, a comedy of errors saw flanker Ben Jackson cross the whitewash to put his side right back in the game, the conversion being missed.

Fairwater gained more reward for their efforts as McAloon converted a penalty for offside to bring the score to 10-8. Then more pressure as a Taff’s Well drop-out was charged down and a penalty for offside which McAloon slotted over to put Fairwater in to the lead for the first time.

More good rucking from the Taff’s Well eight with Lewis Edwards showing up well led to Mr Ian Buckland informing Tom McAloon that his services would not be required for ten minutes after a transgression at the breakdown.

With their playmaker missing, Taff’s Well made the extra numbers count, some slick passing enabling Gavin Close to round his opposite number and touch down in the lefthand corner to put Taff’s Well back in the lead at 1511, the extras going south.

Undeterred, Fairwater applied pressure from the kick-off and after No.8 Max Watkins was penalised for holding on, centre Keiron Brentabet stroked over a penalty to put the home side one point behind but the visitors held on for another away win by a point.