Fixture

Cwmbran gained the bragging rights after a narrow 17-16 victory over Croesyceiliog at a packed Kings Head ground. This was a game in which Croesyceiliog dominated territory and possession but were unable to show the cutting edge that would have secured the victory. Cwmbran however made full use of their limited time in Croesy territory.

From the kick off it was evident that there would be a fair amount of early niggle as both packs squared up to each other, with the referee blowing up for a number of penalties. It was from one of these early penalties that Cwmbran secured their first points of the game with the penalty goal being converted by Cwmbran outside half....... The niggle however continued and eventually escalated into a brawl as a result of a punch to the face of Croesy second row forward Tom Price by one ot the Cwmbran back row. The punch earned a yellow card for the Cwmbran player and a cut lip for Tom Price.

This however helped to galvanise Croesyceiliog who spent much of the next twenty minutes camped in the Cwmbran 22. Unfortunately despite the pressure , a mixture of good Cwmbran scrambled defence and errors when tries seemed to be a certainty, meant that Croesy did not get on the scoreboard during that period. That failure to convert the pressure into points was heightened when Cwmbran in a rare foray into the Croesy half came away with a further three points from a penalty goal. 

Eventually the Croesy dominance of the game was rewarded with three points from the boot of outside half Haydn Simons following an offence at a ruck. The first half ended with Cwmbran holding a narrow 6 points to 3 lead. With the significant slope and a breeze now in Croesys favour, it seemed that the lead would be insufficient.

Unfortunately the second half followed the pattern of the first as Croesy dominated possesssion and territory but were unable to make a significant impact on the scoreboard. Two penalty goals by Haydn Simons were countered by two penalty goals from his opposite number, as Cwmbran took full advantage of their few brief forays into Croesy territory.

With a quarter of an hour to go and trailing by 12 points to 9, Croesy eventually managed to get across the Cwmbran try line, following a driving maul from a lineout 10 metres from the Cwmbran line, Tom Price emerging as the try scorer. Haydn Simons continued his 100% success rate from the kicking tee with the conversion.

Croesy were now in control, however a yellow card for Croesy replacement Jamie Williams who was adjudged to have shoulder barged a Cwmbran player (although video evidence later suggested that it was a clash of heads), appeared to lift Cwmbran. For the first time in the game Cwmbran exerted pressure on the Croesy try line, during which Croesy also lost open side flanker Luke Loder to a leg injury, being replaced by front-row forward Josh Burns. Cwmbran took advantage of the disruption to the pack and worked an opening for one of their forwards to cross for an unconverted try.

With time running out, fourteen man Croesy roused for one more effort, and were rewarded by a penalty on the Cwmban 22m line. Unfortunately a quick tap penalty and subsequent dropped pass meant that the opportunity was lost and Cwmbran were able to see out the remaining few minutes.

Sometimes the performance of an opposition player has to be recognised and Cwmbran No8 Gavin Cook was outstanding behind a pack that quite often was retreating at a rate of knots at the scrum, making vital gains to allow his half-backs to clear their lines as well as carrying destructively in the loose.

For Croesy a mention should go to the front row who perhaps did not get the rewards that their scrummaging deserved, Micki Witts, in his first game as captain, performed with great credit when carrying the responsibility. The best performance from a Croesy player, however, came from Luke Loder who carried well, won a number of turnovers and tackled tenaciously before being forced off the pitch