DIVISION 3 EAST CENTRAL A

ABERCWMBOI ............ 31 TAFFS WELL ............... 13

WITH this the fifth meeting between the sides in 10 months, Taffs Well knew they would have their hands full and so it proved.

Abercwmboi applied all the early pressure despite Taffs Well coming out on top in the scrum and it was home No 8 Lee Jarvis who powered over for the first try of the match which winger Ricky Rees duly converted.

After more concerted pressure, a mix-up in communication left open a yawning gap in the visiting defence which enabled Man-of-the Match outside half Tom Owen to ghost though unmarked to cross under the sticks and enable Rees to convert and double the lead to 14-0.

As the game approached half-time, Taffs Well at last managed to keep possession and spun the ball along the line to left-winger Gavin Close who did well to beat several defenders and squeeze in the corner to put his side back in the game at 14-5 with the conversion being missed.

Things got even better for Taffs Well just after the break as the ball was again zipped through several pairs of hands to give Close the opportunity to score a carbon copy try in the corner with another excellent finish to put the visitors well and truly back in the game at 14-10 with the two points again going begging.

However, any thoughts of a comeback were dashed when Owen placed a neat grubber kick through and beat the Taffs Well defence to the touchdown for a fine individual try and Rees duly obliged with the extras. If the visitors thought this was a setback then there was worse to follow as following some “afters” between the forwards, Taffs Well were down to 12 men for 10 minutes against the home side’s 14 and it was no surprise when No 8 Jarvis crossed for his second try which was converted by Rees.

After trading penalties and Taffs Well finishing strongly, it was Abercwmboi who ran out worthy winners.