Fixture

Croesyceiliog made the short journey to Garndiffaith in search of a 5^th consecutive league victory and looking to extend their unbeaten run in the league to 8 games.  Having beat their opponents on each of the last 4 meetings Croesyceiliog were full of confidence heading into this one, despite missing a few first team regulars as Dan Goode failed a late fitness test and Rob Stark had to withdraw from the match due to one of his pets becoming ill.

 The visitors kicked off against the wind and into the fog.  After 2 minutes, Croesyceiliog were penalised for being offside in midfield and the Garndiffaith outside half put the home side 3-0 ahead with a well struck penalty.  Following some kicking back and forth from both teams, Garndiffaith made their way into the Croesyceiliog half and put a clever kick into the corner to pile on the pressure.  Croesyceiliog collected their own lineout through second row Tom Price and then scrum half Ryan Bates’ kick was charged down which lead to a scrum on the 5 metre line.  The Croesyceiliog pack drove back the Garndiffaith pack in the scrum and earned a penalty from it.  Croesyceiliog outside half Haydn Simons kicked the penalty downfield to relieve the pressure off the visitors.

Croesyceiliog began to dominate in the scrum, as they have done many times this season but this did not allow them to gain good field position due to some loose kicking and lack of willingness to run the ball back at the opposition.  After 13 minutes Garndiffaith decided to run the ball from deep and made their way into the Croesyceiliog half.  Following some poor discipline in defence, the home side were awarded a penalty in a kickable position.  The Garndiffaith outside half failed to make the kick and Croesyceiliog restarted the game with a 22 metre drop out.

After some more end to end kicking, Croesyceiliog scrum half Ryan Bates spotted a gap in the home defence and made a lovely solo run from deep and was eventually stopped by a high tackle from a Garndiffaith player on the 22 metre line.  This caused some pushing and shoving between both teams with David Fosdick in particular getting his hair off!  At this point the referee made the decision to yellow card both David Fosdick and a Garndiffaith player.  Croesyceiliog were awarded a penalty in a very kickable position but Haydn Simons miss hit the kick sending it closer to the corner flag than the posts.

Croesyceiliog were forced into making a temporary change as Luke Loder made way for Josh Burns to come on at hooker for scrummaging purposes.  From the scrum, Croesyceiliog won clean ball and some slick hands by the backs released Haydn Simons through a gap and the visitors were eventually stopped just short of the try line.  Garndiffaith were judged to have illegally played the ball on the floor which gave Croesyceiliog a penalty just five metres out.  The visitors opted for the scrum and after Garndiffaith collapsed 2 scrums the referee had no choice but to issue a yellow card to a Garndiffaith prop.  At this point the game had to go to uncontested scrums.  Croesyceiliog again opted for a scrum and number 8 Steven Thomas picked up from the base and ran through the helpless Garndiffaith winger to score his 10^th try of the season.  The conversion was missed leaving the visitors leading 5-3.

On 33 minutes, an illegal tackle by a Garndiffaith player gave outside half Haydn Simons a shot at goal from 40 metres out.  The kick was well struck and sailed between the uprights to put the visitors 5 points ahead.  The scrums moved back to being contested as the players returned from the sin bin and, at the next scrum Croesyceiliog were penalised for not pushing straight.  Garn opted to kick for goal but the kick went wide.  Just before half time, Croesyceiliog gave away another penalty for offside and this time it was scrum half, Ryan Bates, who received a yellow card for the offence.  The half time score was 8-3 to Croesyceiliog.

Garndiffaith kicked off the second half and within a few minutes the home side gave away a penalty for being offside which Haydn Simons converted to put the visitors 11-3 ahead.  Ryan Bates made his way back onto the field from the sin bin.  Croesyceiliog second row Micki Witts gave away a penalty at the lineout by interfering with the Garndiffaith jumper while he was in the air; this gave the home side an opportunity to gain good field position.  The visitors turned the ball over and spread the ball wide, making good yards in the process.  55 minutes into the match, the visitors made 2 substitutions with Josh Burns replacing David Fosdick at hooker and Scott Copsey Replacing Garin Eldred in the back row.

With the home side looking for a way back into the game they began to carry the ball hard and build some phases.  This was met with some strong defence from Croesyceiliog which eventually led to a forward pass by the home side.  At this point, one of the Garndiffaith props went down injured and was not able to continue.  This meant that, disappointingly but not surprisingly the rest of the match would now be played with uncontested scrums.  Croesyceiliog made another change with Martin Ellis, making his first appearance for the Cockerels, coming on for Stephen Drummond on the right wing.

The home side were now guaranteed clean ball at scrum time and they used it well as they spread the ball out wide to their right winger who was unmarked with the try line begging.  Unfortunately for the home side he was unable to catch the ball and missed the chance to score a certain try.  Croesyceiliog made another change with David Davies making way for James Reid who slotted in at scrum half as Ryan Bates moved to full back.  Following an infringement by a Garndiffaith player, Haydn Simons kicked the ball to the corner and gave the visitors a lineout in an attacking position.  The ball was moved to centre Jordan Bailey who made good yards before offloading the ball which eventually made its way to Ryan Bates to score a try in the corner.  The kick was converted by Haydn Simons to make the score 18-3 and take the game away from the home side.

The home side didn’t stop battling and once again made their way into the Croesyceiliog half and earned themselves a scrum.  Croesyceiliog made their final change with Dan Pattimore replacing Luke Loder in the back row.  Two minutes after coming on as a substitute, Dan Pattimore was sin binned for an offside offence in mid field bringing his game to a premature end.  The home side continued to attack the visitors line and were eventually rewarded with a try in the corner which was unconverted to make the final score 18-8.

Croesyceiliog’s next game is in the league away to a Talywain team who came very close to beating league leaders Ynysddu this week.  The match is on 4^th March 2.30 kick off at Emlyn Park.