Treherbert away - 9th Dec 2006
Treherbert 47 Croesyceiliog 6
Croesy travelled to Treherbert hoping to build on their first win of the season against Abergavenny the previous week. But without influencial captain Matthew Entwistle and pack leader Mark Smith it was always going to be a difficult ask. Wing John Misljen also pulled out with injury to be replaced by scrum-half Ieuan Wakefield and David Davies was late getting to the ground, not arriving until after kick off, meaning that flanker Paul Fisher had to start on the wing.
Despite an early try for the home side Croesy worked hard and pulled themselves back with 2 Gavin Holmes penalties. They should have taken the lead when a sliced clearance by the Treherbert full back was returned with interest by powerful number 8 Gavin Howells. He charged back up field handing off would be tacklers but with one man to beat his pass slipped forward.
Wakefield was forced off with what later turned out to be a recurrence of his broken hand. But the game turned following the yellow carding of hooker Jamie Edwards in the dying minutes of the first half. While he was off the field the home side added two converted tries to take a 21-6 half-time lead. Croesy and Edwards' troubles got worse when he returned to the field and after 5 minutes suffered a broken ankle. The fight seemed to go out of Croesy after this and they conceded four 2nd half tries.
There were few plusses from this game. Gavin Howells had another good game getting over the gain line consistently; Scott Copsey tackled strongly in midfield; and despite playing out of position Paul Fisher did not let the side down. But this was not the result Croesy were looking for particularly as Abergavenny grabbed a surprising win over Llantwit Fardre. Only Pill Harriers, Croesy's next oponents, are now below them in the league and a win this Saturday is absolutely critical.
The full team was: 1. Marc Watkins; 2. Jamie Edwards (Simon Jones); 3. Justin Smith; 4. Tom Price; 5. Ryan Thomas (Richard Gibbins); 6. Chris Williams (Jake Nash); 7. Paul Hicks; 8. Gavin Howells; 9. Ritchie Williams; 10. Gavin Holmes; 11. Paul Fisher; 12. Scott Copsey; 13. Stuart Fitzgerald; 14. Ieuan Wakefield (David Davies); 15. Morgan Parry.
Scorers: Gavin Holmes (2 Pens)