DIVISION 1 EAST

NELSON ....................... 10 RHYDYFELIN .............. 19

THE Parc was the place to be on Saturday afternoon when the only two unbeaten teams in Division 1 East went head to head.

Rhydyfelin went in to the match as favourites having secured one more bonus point than Nelson, but with home advantage there was very little between the sides on paper.

It was the visitors who started on the front foot but a period of possession and territory came to nothing as the home side defence held firm. With the first meaningful attack of the afternoon, the hosts were awarded a penalty and Danny Ellis slotted the ball between the uprights for a 3-0 lead.

From the restart Rhydyfelin upped the tempo and a series of penalties were punished by the boot of David Gratton who pushed the attack up field with his hammer of a right boot. From the resulting lineout the Rhydyfelin pack got to work with a rolling maul and Kyle Perry crashed over for the try, his fifth of the season. The conversion from out wide was successfully converted by Gratton.

A minor scuffle shortly after the restart was harshly dealt by sending one from both side to the sin bin, during which the home side started to get into the game. A break in the visiting 22 was very nearly finished off for the try only for the referee to adjudge the final grounding of the ball to have been a double movement. Harsh in the eyes of the home side, not so much in those of the visitors. The lead could have been reduced again when Ellis had a further shot at goal, but this time the effort went wide and Rhydyfelin got the reprieve.

Rhydyfelin made the most of the let-off, and went straight back to work in the opponents half. A series of phases through the forwards won more territory and when the ball finally reached winger Jordan Rees out wide, a trademark handoff and blistering speed resulted in a second try of the game. Again, from out wide, Gratton added the extras.

The Village continued to dominate the final 10 minutes of the half, with a series of lineouts and scrums within the home 22. Crucially the home side’s defence held firm and managed to go in to half time just the two scores behind, 3-14.

In the heavy rain Nelson returned from the changing rooms in determined mood, but it was Rhydyfelin who very nearly made a dream start to the half. From kick-off a knock-on gifted Rhydyfelin the ball and wing Jordan Rees charged to within 5m of the line. The pack took the ball toward the line but a strip tackle regained possession for the Unicorns to relieve the early pressure.

Both sides were making mistakes as the weather worsened but it was the home side that began to enjoy more possession and territory. The visiting defence was being tested but Chris Phillips, Kevin Briggs and the rest of the pack were holding firm. It wasn’t until midway through the half when a Nelson scrum in a perfect position centre field 15m in front of the posts gave their pacey backs an opportunity to run a training ground move. The platform was set by the pack and with everyone singing from the same hymn sheet Daniel Davies ran a great line to carve open the defence. The conversion from Ellis brought the score to 10-14.

From kick-off Rhydyfe- lin managed to force the hosts to defend from near their own try line, and pressure on Danny Ellis while trying to clear their lines very nearly resulted in a try. Ross Lucas managed to charge down the kick but the dead ball line narrowly beat the centre from making the score. Apart from the charge down, Nelson had their tails up and put the pressure on with a period of possession and territory in the Rhydyfelin 22, but this time the visiting defence were more than a match for the hosts’ attack. Lineouts, scrums and open play were all thwarted by the excellent defensive work and poor handling in the wet and cold conditions. With 10 minutes left on the clock Rhydyfelin managed a turnover and a kick up field to relieve pressure turned in to an opportunity. A partial charge down on the kick played everyone on side and the on-rushing attackers pressurised the Nelson defence in to spilling the clear-up. Wing Jordan Rees scooped up the ball and found flanker Luke Studley in support. The defence scrambled and reached Studley only for scrum half Fforest Quirke to receive the inside pass and show enough pace to reach the try line for a crucial third try.

Having been on top and to concede in the manner they did, the wind was taken out of the home side. Rhydyfelin began to claim more possession and tactical kicking down in to the Nelson half left the hosts a long way to go to get back in the game. A series of mistakes followed as the game petered out, but there was one last attempt at gaining a losing bonus point for the Unicorns. A wellworked move put Davies away down the right wing and seemingly in the corner but once again the visiting defence scrambled and dislodged the ball from the attacker. The final whistle sounded to the delight of the travelling fans, and to those who couldn’t wait to get out of the rain.

The win for Rhydyfelin opens up a five- point gap at the top of Division 1 East with Nelson remaining in second place. This result was the time in the last 14 games that The Village had not secured a try bonus, a run that began against Nelson back in April. Next weekend Rhydyfelin will be looking to maintain the 100% record as they welcome Blaenav- on to Hawthorn Recreation Ground.

RHYDYFELIN 2NDS ... 31 MOUNTAIN ASH 2NDS ............................. 10

RHYDYFELIN 2nds were without a league fixture this week, therefore fellow Mid District club Mountain Ash visited for a friendly fixture.

Although the visitors play two divisions above the hosts, in the top division of the Rhondda and East Glamorgan leagues it was Rhydyfelin who dominated the score card.

The match was well balanced up front with the packs well matched but behind the scrum the hosts were the better side. Three tries in the first half, scored by Chris Tottle and a brace for Dale Llewelyn, all three converted by Simon Thomas, gave the home side a 21-5 lead at the break.

The second half was a little closer with Simon Thomas this time scoring the tries with a brace of his own. But for a number of passes going to ground with the tryline begging the score could have been higher but never the less Rhydyfelin will be happy with another Division 1 A scalp and continuing their unbeaten start to the season.