Nantymoel Home 13th Jan 2007
Croesyceiliog 12 Nantymoel 12
Four penalties from captain Matthew Entwistle were not quite enough to give Croesy their second win of the season. Indeed it was only a hotly disputed penalty in second half injury time which earned Croesy the point which keeps them in touch with teams above.
In a scrappy game, the highlight of which was the referee's constant whistling, Entwistle gave the Cockerels an early 3-0 lead with a well taken penalty in difficult windy conditions. The visitors hit back soon after with a try wide out after Croesy twice had chances to clear their lines. The try scorer and Croesy full-back David Davies were both yellow-carded after a scuffle immediately after the try. Neither side could gain any advantage in the remainder of the half. Croesy had the upper hand in the lineout but Nantymoel controlled the scrum. The only further score of the half was a 2nd Entwistle penalty.
He added a third just after the break to give Croesy a 9-5 lead and with their driving lineout getting stronger as the game went on looked good for the win. One such drive was dropped by the visitors who were penalised and their second row sin-binned but Entwistle missed the penalty attempt.
Despite having the man advantage Croesy's scrum was in disarray and they were pushed off a scrum on half way gving possession to the visitors. Nantymoel piled on the pressure eventually leading to their second try wide out on the left and this time it was converted to take them 12-9 up.
With time running out Croesy upped their game. The Gavin's, No 8 Howells and outside half Holmes, combined well but Holmes was called back for a questionable forward pass. Another long range driving maul took play to within 5 metres of the try line before Nantymoel again dropped the maul. Arguably this was worth a penalty try but instead Croesy were only awarded a penalty. Tom Price took it quickly and was stopped just short. From the resultant 5 metre scrum Croesy again conceded against the head. When Nantymoel cleared their lines the alert wing Matt Hiatt took a quick lineout to himself and launched one final counter attack. At the breakdown Nantymoel were again penalised and Entwistle stepped up to grab a deserved draw with the final kick of the game. There was controversy even in this as the Croesy linesman put his flag up but the Nantymoel linesman didn't and it was left to the referee to award the points to the dismay of the visitors.
With Abergavenny losing and Pill not playing the draw keeps Croesy in touch with the rest of the relegation fighters. With 10 games to play, even sixth from bottom Ynysybwl whom Coesy visit on Saturday, are not out of reach on 12 points. But this was a game Croesy could and should have won with a bit more determination and the players need to show a bit more appetite for the battle if they are going to move up the table.
Croesy's side:
1. Marc Watkins (rep Anthony Gardner 65 mins) ; 2. Simon Jones; 3. Justin Smith; 4. Mark Smith; 5. Richrd Gibbins (rep Tom Price 60 mins) 6. Chris Williams; 7. Paul Hicks; 8. Gavin Howells (blood rep Jake Nash 30 mins & 50 mins); 9. Ritchie Williams; 10. Gavin Holmes; 11. Matthew Hiatt; 12. Matthew Entwistle (capt.); 13. Scott Copsey; 14. Stuart Fitzgerald; 15. David Davies.
Unused sub: Jim Sargeant.
Scorers Matthew Entwistle 4 pens.