DIVISION 3 EAST CENTRAL B
TYLORSTOWN ............ 26 ST ALBANS .................... 8
WITH St Albans only playing their third away game of the season, Tylorstown could be forgiven for expecting to win easily.
Despite being at the bottom of the table, St Albans made Tylorstown work hard for this win and the result only became a formality in the second half.
Tylorstown scored some well-taken tries and looked dangerous on many occasions with ball in hand. Unfortunately there was constant offthe-ball incidents and the referee was frequently penalising both sides at the breakdown which meant the game struggled to gain fluency.
Tylorstown’s strong lineout was a key factor in this win with hooker Jamie Davies and second row Dai Hefford working in tandem to gain excellent possession for the home side.
The first 20 minutes were littered with penalties and Tylorstown made good inroads with flanker James Groves going close early on. Centre Michael Melhuish gave full back Rhys Tyler time with a good catch and pass in one movement with the full back slipping as he tried to step past the St Albans tackler. Four times Tylorstown came close to scoring but were penalised and found themselves deep in their own half. Against the run of play, St Albans opened the scoring with a penalty after Tylorstown were deemed to have held on in the tackle.
With the lineout working efficiently, Tylorstown were able to build momentum. From a lineout in the St Albans 22m area, Hefford won the ball and his forwards peeled from him and set up a driving maul which was too powerful for the Cardiff side to contain. Hefford was rewarded for his efforts with the try that Melhuish converted.
Both Tylorstown wings, Chris Griffiths and Matthew Carter, were prominent in broken play and linked well with young full back Rhys Tyler. Carter fielded a clearance kick and went on a winding run and offloaded to Hefford who made a superb pick-up only for the move to break down.
Tylorstown’s scrum was under pressure from the first whistle and No 8 Nathan Davies had to pick and go frequently to ease the pressure on his forwards. Unfortunately following a brawl, Davies was surprisingly pinpointed and received a yellow card along with a St Albans player.
Whatever coaches Dean Gauvain and Harry Allen said to the home side at half-time had an impact as Tylorstown became dominant in all de- partments in the second period.
Clearly they must have been told to run the heavier St Albans forwards around the field. A quick tap penalty was taken and the ball went through the hands of Melhuish and Davies. Carter had a bit to do to touch down in the corner but he did it well.
The restart by St Albans did not go 10m and from the resultant scrum, captain Chris Lloyd picked up at the back of the scrum, dummied the close tacklers before making a searing break showing good pace and strength. Melhuish cut a good angle and Lloyd popped the ball to him with the centre diving under the posts for a gem of a try. Melhuish added the conversion.
At this point St Albans looked tired and Tylorstown finished the game off as a contest with a welltaken bonus-point try by centre Sam Davies. Scrum half Kieran Richards was quick to spot gaps and get behind the away team at every opportunity which began this passage of play.
On the stroke of fulltime, the Cardiff side scored after a run of penalties going their way which left the home supporters bemused. Tylorstown showed patience and didn’t allow their emotions to get the better of them.
Next week Tylorstown host Cardiff Saracens at Penrhys Park and hope to build on the efforts of this game.