Fixture

Rhiwbina RFC | 1st Team 23 - 10 St Josephs RFC | 1st Team

Match Report
28 October 2018 / Team News

Squirrels into Round 3 of the Plate

Rhiwbina 23  St Josephs  10

WRU National Plate Competition: Round 2

Saturday 27th October 2018

Man of the Match James Griffiths leads the way for the Squirrels

 

With a bitterly cold wind blowing down the pitch from the scoreboard end, Rhiwbina started the game with the wind at their backs. I was told I missed nothing in last week’s first instalment of the St Joes double, but todays’ game did have some excitement and periods of frantic action from both sides, as St Joes looked to avenge last week’s league defeat which saw the Squirrels go top of Division One East Central. There were a couple of changes in the Rhiwbina pack and one of those, Dave Ponting, went on to have an excellent game after quite an absence from the 1st XV. However, the game was kept under control for Rhiwbina by man of the match James Griffiths who played the full 80 minutes and looked solid and sure when madness was happening around him. Time and again he made the right decision and helped to ensure that the Squirrels march on into Round 3 of the National Plate.

St Joes had a dreadful kick-off but they were soon on the front foot showing real attacking intent, which was absent from their approach last week. Some great counter-rucking by Smithy won the ball back for Rhiwbina and that was followed by a 25 metre drive by Rhiwbina from a line out which took them to just a metre short of the try line in the fire station corner.  The ref awarded the put in to St Joes and they were able to clear, and throughout the first half they put in some superb clearance kicks. Chris Huntley stole the first of a number of St Joes lineouts and Rhiwbina found themselves where they wanted to be with a line out in the fire station corner again. St Joes illegally halted the first drive but from that penalty Sean ‘Irish’ Monaghan could not be stopped as he charged over for his first try for Rhiwbina.  St Joes finally got into the Rhiwbina 22 after 24 minutes of play but a Rhys Morgan break from a stolen lineout saw the Squirrels back in St Joes territory. A neat kick by Josh Davies put Rhiwbina in another attacking position before Ben McStay was tackled head-high for the least-contested yellow card of the season to be shown to the St Joes offender. There were further charges by Loren Quick, who had his best game so far, and from the ever-reliable Dafydd Williams and Sean Monaghan, but the score remained 5-0 at half time.

Dafydd and Sean again combined well from the kick off, before Loren Quick burst through to make about 30 metres and was held up just short of the line and put Rhiwbina in an attacking position. The seagulls remained undisturbed in the Rhiwbina 22, as most of the action took place in the other half, and Lewis Pearce slotted over a penalty to increase the Rhiwbina lead to 8-0. Dafydd had another great run out of his 22 from the kick-off, and was heading further upfield before it was noticed that the touch judge’s flag was up for a toe into touch. St Joes then kicked a penalty which went dead, and from the kick off Ben McStay took an American football-like catch.  Several more Rhiwbina attacks saw the ball go frustratingly loose, with Olly Golden prominent. Finally, a series if well-timed passed saw Dafydd make it over for a try under the posts, which Lewis converted to make it 15-0. St Joes now had to play attacking rugby and they responded well with a try by Jacob Brennan, to make the score 15-5.  St Joes were now really on the front foot, but Rhiwbina’s lines were cleared by a great clearance kick from James Griffiths.  Loren Quick again broke through and another chip by Josh saw Rhiwbina awarded a penalty which Lewis slotted over to make the score 18-5.  A great run by Olly supported by Sean from the kick off then lead to Rhiwbina’s best try of the afternoon to make certain of the result.  Loren Quick made ground and James took the ball on before some slick passing saw Dafydd on hand to jink over to score his second try. Ponting took another great catch from the re-start, but one final attack from St Joes saw Will Smith cross for a consolation try.

A much better game than last week and a great result for the Squirrels over their local rivals, and new we can look forward to the Third Round draw next week.

 

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