DIVISION 3 WEST
BANWEN ...................... 19 CEFN CRIBWR ............ 16
CEFN travelled to Banwen expecting a “sticky” time having lost to the Dulais valley side at home earlier in the season, and so it proved to be following an early exit for Cefn skipper Owen Davies who fell foul of the “tip-tackle” law.
The referee felt there was no malice in the tackle, but had no option but to offer the red card; however Davies and Cefn can feel a little hard done by in what was a fair but hard encounter.
Cefn were always up against it with the home side leading 19-3, and Cefn having to play up the slope in the second half in what was a seemingly futile task. To be fair, fourteen man Cefn set about at every opportunity.
Quins opened the scoring with a well-executed three-quarter move.
Their forwards increased the lead after their scrum caused chaos in the Celtic defence and they crashed over for a touchdown. Celtic closed the gap when prop Dale Cook passed to hooker Deri Lloyd who found fullback James jones in support. Flanker Neil Sainsbury which Tadgh McGuckin converted. The Quins then nearly got one of their own when a lineout 5 metres from the visitors line saw a short throw in. The receiver was shocked to get it and even more shocked as when he dived for the line young scrum half Jack Deere nailed him with a thunderous tackle to dislodge the ball over the line. A drive on half way by the Quins saw Maesteg steal the ball and maul themselves forward for Tadgh McGuckin to kick the resultant penalty.
The second half started with the visitors on the attack and Morgan Harris was nearly over to be followed by Gavin Ronan, Jack Powell, Cameron Davies, who were held up on the line. The referee had discussions with the home side from the start of the game to end for their persistent infringing but the sole yellow card they got came now as Tadgh Mcguckin added his third penalty. The first warning to Maesteg came a few minutes later and Tyler Dawe left the field they had their bags packed for a trip to Cardiff Airport; tomorrow they visit champions-elect Blaenrhondda ahead of home matches with Cardiff Cosmos this Saturday and Llanrumney next Tuesday.
That’s a punishing schedule in anyone’s language, but the prospect of Division One derby clashes next winter with Cornelly Utd, Llan Rangers and Porthcawl Town is a mouth-watering prospect for the boys from leafy their task manfully, with impressive lock Simon Tame leading the charge, alongside ever dynamic hooker Karl Davies, and powerful number eight Lewis Cox.
Cefn had the upper hand in the scrum for much of the game, only to see the home side go passive in the last 10 minutes with Cefn pressing their line.
Jamie John came off the bench to sneak a welldeserved try for Cefn to arrived at pace and beat the defence to score in the corner.
They closed the gap even further, as a result of great inter-passing by the forwards which led to second row Nathan Jenkins rampaging down the middle only to be hauled down short.
Scrum half Nathan Edwards spun the ball to centre Gavin Joseph on the blind side and hooker for a short break. The extra forward paid off when some pick and drives saw Quins centre Dean Scully crossing. A tap penalty by Cameron Davies on half way saw him make ground before hooker Rhys Davies took over only for the ball to be knocked out of his hands as he went over the line. A defining moment as seconds later a tackle, considered marginally late saw Connor Williams yellow carded. The abscence of two players worked for the home side as an overlap saw Lewis Cronin cross. Then came the first controversy when Quins left wing Jordan Condon put in a good run but looked well in touch before he grounded the ball. The referee did not award it as he stood for thirty seconds pointing at the spot on touchline, the same spot the Maesteg players were pointing at. The Quins touch judge seemed to have disappeared into the crowd. So after much pointing at the whitewash the referee awarded the try. An elbow into Cameron Davies’s Corntown.
They had the lead early on when Giovanni Bertorelli repaid some of his big transfer fee with a first goal for the club.
Top scorer Jack Dummett again got in on the goal-scoring act and the sides changed ends with Vale two goals to the good.
And with home fans still filtering out of the hospitality suites, some missed a wonder goal from Lewis Richards.
It was now all Vale make a real game of it with talented fly half and Cefn Man of the Match Joe Gallafant kicking the conversion, and 2 additional well struck penalties only for Cefn to go down a narrow 19-16 in the end.
For Cefn centre Rob Matthews had another fine game and was colossal in defence, whilst co centre Mark Astley made some telling runs.
Returning prop Chris Bruno made an impact for Cefn off the bench, whilst Deri Lloyd ran in the try.
Celtic took the lead in the second half when they took a quick penalty and outside half Nathan Healey drew the defence before putting man of the match Deri Lloyd over for his second.
Celtics fourth try came when flanker Nathan Adams won a lineout in the visitors 22 and Deri Lloyd took the ball through the defence. face by Dean Scully saw another lecture from the referee but no yellow card. Despite not any rub of the green Maesteg turned up the pace and camped on the Quins line as their forwards and backs lined up to drive over. Matthew Davies, Harrison Evans, Jack Powell all came close and a couple of close scrums nearly paid off before from one of these Cameron Davies picked up, went open and Tadgh McGuckin shot over but and on-fire Ryan Jenkins scorched his way on to 11 goals for the season with another worthy effort.
And with the score on 4-0, Corntown chief Lloyd Williams released hungry 17-year-old young gun Jac Wisenden from a bench warming role.
The impact he made was astonishing, assisting as rare a goal from veteran Dicky Evans as Luke Cox appearances.
And with Carnetown visibly wilting, a 24th goal all action flanker Luke Donne also made a similar impact.
Cefn have had a very unfortunate run of games, this being the sixth losing by one score or less, three of which were literally last touch of the ball, so this side deserves credit for the way in which they are seeing out the season, having given the likes of league leaders Tonmawr, and WRU Bowl Finalists Pembroke a run for their money.
The Quins defence over anticipated the next move and left a gap for Nathan Edwards to sprint through and score.
The game concluded when centre Neil Arthur made a break on half way and passed to James Jones who moved it on to fullback Scott Wilkins who beat three defenders before touching down under the posts. James jones converted. the angle was just a spot out as his conversion shaved the post.
One point in it and then another talking point as a scrum 30 metres from the visitors line saw the Quins pull back on one side for the referee to give them the penalty which Ryan Pugh gratefully kicked.
Back came the visitors and pummeled away for the winning score but as they worked the blind side a high pass went into touch. Game over. of the season from Dummett added to their woe, and made it 6-0.
Adoring fans were then sent home happy when Jimbo Davies pulled off a Ronaldo-type finish to bring the curtain down on an emphatic victory.
But manager Williams will be keeping feet firmly on the ground after this victory, as far bigger challenges await the boys from leafy Corntown in yet another promotion quest.