In a tough match held at the superb Ystrad Mynach Centre for Sporting Excellence Croesy faced one of the few sides to have defeated them this season. Out for revenge the boys started the game in determined fashion, pushing the Caerleon team deep into their own 22. But Caerleon stood firm and tackled like demons. Matty Taylor, Luke Gulliford and Jordan Morris all went close, but last ditch tackles kept them out. The Croesyceiliog Wingers, usually unstoppable, were well marked by Caerleon who clearly knew the threat they presented. Both Max Thomas-Frost and Tyler Westcott tried to get around the defensive line, but were double marked each time and brought down.
But eventually the pressure told. Outside half Taylor spotted a gap and went for the line, only to be stopped by a high tackle. The ref played advantage and Scrum-Half Sam Harvey moved the ball quickly to Fullback Kian Boddenham who burst through the line to score. The score remained at 5 nil until half time.
In the second half Caerleon came back strongly and started to dominate at the breakdown, appearing more eager to recover the ball. The game became somewhat of an arm wrestle with the Croesy players having to up their game. Josh Hamer, Captain Morris, and the other forwards got stuck in and fought back. With parity up front Croesy started to dominate the game. Eventually the second try came as the ball was moved wide from a penalty, with nice passing from centres Luke Gulliford and Ieuan Tucker the ball reached Boddenham who showed the defence a clean pair of heels to score near the left corner. The conversion from outwide came back off the post, accompanied by the groans of the crowd.
With the game at 10 nil it was still all in the balance and demanded a huge defensive effort, All of the forwards stepped up and tackled hard. The front row, Cameron Bolton, Kian Harvey and Jack Pearce were a wall in defence, whilst Ben Maggs, Tyler Bowden and George Vimpany were full of energy. The full squad was needed in defence and Owain Weston, Kai Cozens and Toby Holroyd were all needed in the pack as tired bodies had to be replaced. Caerloen were eventually rewarded for all their hard work as they forced an overlap allowing their big number 8 Sam Duly to dive over in the corner, despite the best efforts of substitute wing Rhys Meredith-Lewis.
The critical point of the match came midway through the second half when a momentary loss of concentration at the breakdown allowed Duly to pick up a loose ball and race down the wing with no defence in front of him. But Fullback Boddenham covered across and with a superb tackle put Duly into touch. Had that been scored it could have been a very different game. As it was this seemed to take the wind out of the Caerleon team's sails and shortly after Croesy scored their third try, again putting Boddenham into space to enjoy a run-in and spark the celebrations. Thoroughily on top now Croesy controlled the game to the final whistle and won the game 15 - 5.
The match was a great contest and a credit to both teams. The trophy was presented to the team by Wales and British Lions Legend, Taulupe Faletau in front of the cheering crowd.
The Coaches are incredibly proud of the attitude and effort shown by all the boys who played and it was a superb end to the season!
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