Fixture

Squirrels make Rumney work hard for their win

It was amazing that the game went ahead at all, given the amount of rain that fell in the previous 24 hours, but ahead it went on the 2^nd team pitch. Before the match players and spectators paid their respects to our irrepressible Vice Chairman Dave Hobbs who sadly passed away on the 31^st December after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer.

Had Hobbsy been there watching he would been shouting one of his favourite lines “it’s the fat one ref”! And he would have been shouting it often as the powerful Rumney front row put Rhiwbina constantly under pressure in the scrums, and they also made their presence felt in other aspects of play, making several strong charges.  But the Rhiwbina defence held firm, restricting the league leaders to just two tries in the first half. Jamie Deabreu pulled off some superb tackles and led by example throughout the game. The Rhiwbina backs were more than a match for the visitors, with Elliot Jones always looking dangerous and Alex Cooke and Diggy Bird looking for the break, and there were some excellent phases of play for the Squirrels with the forwards all playing their part in retaining the ball.

Rumney went ahead with an early penalty, followed by a try from a line out catch and drive, making the score 0-8 after 20 minutes. Rumney had most of the possession in the first half, playing downhill and down wind and, as mentioned, placing Rhiwbina under great pressure in the set pieces.  However, Rhiwbina did create some chances and Cooky picked the ball up by his toes to set up Ben Sharrif for an excellent run, and after some good play by the forwards a Cooky chip ahead resulted in a 5 metre scrum for the Squirrels. The scrum was lost, and Rumney cleared down field. In the closing seconds of the first half another Rhiwbina scrum was overturned in the Rumney 22 and Rumney broke away to score in the bottom corner.  This try also went unconverted to make the score 0-13 at the break.

Playing downhill in the second half, and with the set piece possession much improving, Rhiwbina were on the front foot and their 22 was rarely breached by the visitors, but it was tough making any headway against the determined Rumney defence. Diggy made some telling kicks downfield and eventually the Rhiwbina determination paid off in the closing minutes as another Diggy penalty gave Rhiwbina an attacking lineout in the bottom corner.  The ball was won and a forward drive saw captain Jamie Deabreu cross for the try, and never was there one more deserved.  Diggy converted superbly to take the game into the final few minutes. Rhiwbina looked to run the ball from the re-start and a Rumney player was shown the yellow card for a deliberate knock on.  The Squirrels kept on trying but the Rumney defence held firm and the final score was 7-13, with Rhiwbina claiming a hard-earned and well-deserved losing bonus point.