Ynysybwl Away 20th Jan 07
Ynysybwl 32 Croesy 13
With Marc Watkins injured Croesy were forced to draft in stalwart Carl Bigham at loose head for the trip to Ynysybwl. With all 4 second rows training hard and fighting for places it was the turn of Jim Sergeant and Tom Price to start with Richard Gibbins and Mark Smith on the bench. With Paul Hicks unavailable Jake Nash was given a deserved start on the blind side with Chris Williams on the open playing his last game before transfering to Newport Saracens. Behind the scrum David Davies moved from full back to centre in place of Scott Copsey with Matt Hiatt moving to full-back and Rhys Prendergast getting his first league start.
Croesy started well playing with a howling gale and right from the off created chances. As the half went on time and time again they broke through the first line of the Ynysybwl defence but were just unable to make their chances count. No. 8 Gavin Howells burst up the middle but the support was not close enough as he was tackled by the full back. Outside half Gavin Holmes made a couple of lovely breaks but just couldn't get the final pass away. And full back Matt Hiatt was stopped after going for the line himself with a two man overlap. Croesy could easily have been 4 tries up but all they had to show for their first half efforts were 2 Matthew Entwistle penalties. But their defence had held firm and despite conceding 3 points from a penalty it looked as though Croesy would turn around with a half time lead. However, the scrum was creaking and in first half injury time the increased pressure told and Ynysybwl scored the first try of the game.
Ynysybwl increased their lead early in the second half with a penalty but Croesy were still well in the game. Then from a missed clearance kick the Ynysybwl left wing showed incredible pace to outstrip the whole of the Croesy back division and score the first of three converted Ynysybwl tries in the space of 10 minutes which effectively killed the game off. To Croesy's credit they refused to throw in the towel. Holmes continued to feed off the runs into midfield by Howells and one break saw him race 70 yards up field before being dragged down by the home full back. Croesy's pressure finally told as Howells forced his way over from short range with Entwistle converting. But as Croesy were pushing for another score the referee inexplicably blew the final whistle fully 10 minutes early. Everyone else at the ground seemed to realise the mistake apart from the referee who refused to listen to remonstrations. It was just fortunate that Ynysybwl were well clear otherwise there would have been even more vociferous complaints.
There were plenty of positives in this game for Croesy. Their defence was good for long periods particularly in midfield where David Davies seemed more comfortable at centre and they created plenty of chances. The other good news was that the two teams immediately above Croesy in the league, Abergavenny an Pill, both lost. On the down side, despite the valiant efforts of "old heads" Carl Bigham and his replacement Anthony Gardner, Croesy's scrum has real problems. To add to their woes Chris Williams has decided to move to the Sarries and will be sorely missed. Following the game forwards coach Andy Peacock announced his resignation.
On Saturday Croesy entertain Tredegar who put 80 points on Croesy in the reverse fixture early in the season.
Croesy's side was:
Carl Bigham (Anthony Gardner 65 mins); Simon Jones; Justin Smith; Jim Sergeant; Tom Price (Mark Smith 50 mins); Jake Nash (David Fozdick 50 mins); Chris Williams; Gavin Howells; Ritchie Williams; Gavin Holmes; Stuart Fitzgerald; Matthew Entwistle; David Davies; Rhys Prendergast (Richard Gibbins 25 mins); Matthew Hiatt.
Scorers: Matthew Entwistle 2 pens 1 con; try Gavin Howells.