DIVISION 3 EAST CENTRAL B

ST ALBANS .................. 12 TONYREFAIL .............. 61

TONYREFAIL travelled to Trelai Park, Cardiff for this Division 3 East Central B fixture against bottom club St Albans having been forced to make some late changes, so with Ton only two places above them, any earlier optimism had evaporated slightly.

In spite of that it only took the visitors two minutes to get on the scoreboard when left wing Chris Rand crossed for the first of his three tries. Ton kept the pressure on and with the forwards enjoying the upper hand Adam Clapp touched down af- ter a driving maul from a close range lineout to be followed a few minutes later by Chris Rand again.

Although Ton ran in three tries in 15 minutes the home side always looked ready to counter attack and their backs looked good when they had possession. After all Ton’s early pressure they took play into Ton’s half and moved the ball quickly allowing their outside half to break the defensive line and race to the tryline to score. Unfortunately for them it was one of only two chances they were to be allowed by Ton in the whole game.

Although they broke the defensive line a number of times there was always a Ton player to make the crucial tackle, halting pro- gress. Ton, on the other hand, were able to find the gaps with good handling and support play and by half-time they had run in six tries with Owen Lewis’ boot getting the extras.

St Albans began the second half with renewed vigour and Ton had to work hard to keep them out but it looked like the home side were in for a try when their inside centre broke through and was bearing down on the tryline with only Ton’s full back to beat. From out of nowhere flanker Liam Roberts floored him with a terrific tackle allowing Sam Christopher to pick up the ball and race the length of the field to score under the posts to get his third try.

This really took the wind out of St Albans’ sails and although the visitors made a number of substitutions they still had more than enough firepower with further tries for Garreg Lewis (2) and Rhys Morris. The home side scored their second try in the dying minutes of the game.

Ton will be more than happy with the five points from this win and although they remain third from bottom they have increased the gap to the bottom two teams and they have games in hand over those immediately above them. A similar result next week at home to Cardiff Saracens will go a long way to ensuring they do not have to worry about relegation at the end of the season.