Match Report 7th October 2006
Tredegar 83 Croesyceiliog 14
Croesy's season hit rock bottom with this 13 try drubbing from a well-drilled Tredegar side who have now scored 80 points on 3 occasions this season. Time after time the Cockerels fragile defence was ripped to shreds as too many players missed first up tackles.
Once again the coaches preparation was disrupted by player unavailabilty and injury. The back line was particularly affected with the versatile David Davies being forced to fill in at scrum-half, outside half Gavin Holmes and wing Richard Lewis being drafted in despite their continued failure to train and wing Rhodri Davies moving to full-back. In the forwards No.8 Paul Hicks started his first game of the season after returning from a broken leg and,along with scrum-half Davies, was one of the few players to come off the field with any credit. Admittedly, Croesy were forced to play without a recognised open side but apart from this the pack should have been good enough to compete with the opposition 8. That they weren't has to make one wonder how committed some of the players are.
It took Croesy until early in the second half to get on the score sheet with a try and conversion from captain Matthew Entwistle who had earlier been yellow carded for talking back to the referee. This is a consistent problem of Entwistle's and for the good of the team it really is about time learnt to keep his discipline. Wing John Misljen, who was starved of possession for most of the game, got the second try and showed he has lost none of his finishing skills if he could just get more of the ball. Again Entwistle converted.
Another piece of good news was the second half appearance of blind-side flanker Chris Williams for his first game of the season after breaking his arm during the summer. He did enough to show he will make a difference to the side when he is fully match fit. There was also a welcome first appearance for prop Marc Watkins who has returned from Pontypool where he has made a couple of appearances on permit.
The team was as follows:
1. Gareth Cowens; 2. Jamie Edwards; 3. Justin Smith; 4. Mark Smith; 5. Jim Sergeant; 6. Richard Gibbins; 7. Paul Hicks; 8. Ryan Thomas; 9. David Davies; 10. Gavin Holmes; 11. Richard Lewis; 12. Matthew Entwistle; 13. Stuart Fitzgerald; 14. John Misljen; 15. Rhodri Davies.
Subs (all used) Marc Watkins; Tom Price; Chris Williams; Jake Nash.
Scorers: tries Matthew Entwistle, John Misljen; conversions Matthew Entwistle (2).