Treherbert home 31st March 07
Croesyceiliog 41 Treherbert 32
Croesyceiliog put in their best performance of the season to defeat fourth placed Treherbert 41 - 32 in an action packed thriller at Woodland Road. The win, Croesy's third in four games, shows how far the team has progressed since the return of coach John Kerry. It is great credit to the players that they have fully committed themselves to his unique coaching style. There was never any doubt that Croesy had a talented group of players but it is only now that supporters are seeing the best of them.
Back row Gavin Howells bagged a brace of tries, opening the scoring after just 3 minutes from a well-executed driving maul from a lineout. The visitors soon equalised but the next 30 minutes was all Croesy as they ran in a further 2 tries, the first from points machine Matthew Entwistle who grabbed a personal tally of 21, adding 5 conversions and 2 penalties to his try. Croesy's third try was created by young centre Shane Williams, who made a beautiful outside break before drawing the full back and putting replacement wing Scott Copsey over in the corner. Williams in his first season out of youth and having been out of the game for more than a year with a serious knee injury had an outstanding game, both in attack and in defence where he put in some crunching tackles.
With a couple of minutes to go to half-time Croesy led 24-7 but that was the catalyst for Treherbert to show their ability. They grabbed a second try just before the break followed by 2 more and a penalty early in the second half to go 27-24 in front. Earlier in the season the Croesy side would have folded having lost their lead but they are now playing with new found believe and confidence and stormed back into the lead with a second try for Howells and one from fellow back row Richard Gibbins. Treherbert scored a late consolation try but it was obviously not much consolation as, for reasons only they know, they did not even have the courtesy to come to the Croesy club after the game.
The win has moved Croesy a further place up the table after Pill, next Saturday's oponents, lost. With 3 games still to play, Croesy still have an outside chance of avoiding relegation.
The Croesy side was:
1. Anthony Gardner (Marc Watkins 40 mins); 2. Simon Jones (Rob Taylor 40 mins); 3. Justin Smith; 4. Mark Smith; 5. Richard Gibbins 6. Jake Nash (Jim Sargeant 40 mins); 7. Gavin Howells; 8. Tim Hanks; 9. Ritchie Williams; 10. Gavin Holmes; 11. Rhodrin Davies; 12. Matthew Entwistle; 13. Shane Williams; 14. Andrew Paraskeva (Scott Copsey 20 mins); 15. David Davies.
Scorers: tries Gavin Howells (2); Scott Copsey; Richard Gibbins; Matthew Entwistle plus 5 conversions and 2 penalties.