New Tredegar home 3rd May 2008
Croesyceiliog 48 New Tredegar 0
Croesyceiliog signed off their season in style with an entertaining 8-try victory over struggling New Tredegar. Right from the off Croesy made their intentions clear with flanker Jake Nash almost going over in the first minute and Matthew Entwislte setting up another chance after a midfield break moments later only for poor passing to let the chance slip. In fact it was almost 15 minutes into the game before Croesy got the first points on the board with a 16th try of the season from openside Gavin Howells following a useful box kick from scrum-half Ieuan Wakefield who was making the most of his rare starting opportunity.
The second came five minutes later following another fine Entwistle break. He linked up with Paraskeva coming off his wing and feeding the back line to put right wing Chris Small over. The crowd were being treated to some of the best running rugby of the season. Shane Williams made another lovely break in midfield before another incisive move from the backs put fullback David Davies through. He was just tackled short but the ball was moved swiflty left to allow Entwistle to squeeze over wide out.
With only minutes left in the half New Tredegar mounted their first serious challenge on the Croesy line. Their scrum was dominant at this point but Croesy just held out after 4 consecutive scrums on their own line. Demoralisingly for them Croesy broke out of defence, once again through Entwistle, who shrugged off 2 would be tacklers before feeding on to Paraskeva who drew the defence and put No.8 Steve Thomas over. Entwistle slotted over his first conversion to give Croesy a 22-0 half-time lead.
Croesy were soon back on the offensive in the second period. The forwards made the hard yards allowing David Davies to outflank the defence to score wide out. The next score came following a quick tap penalty from Thomas who made good ground up the middle before feeding on to prop Justin Smith. That man Entwistle was there again to take the move on before unselfishly feeding on to prop Rob Taylor to get the touch down with Entwistle converting.
Taylor got his second in as many minutes following an excellent driving lineout from the Croesy pack. New Tredegar were forced to collapse the maul but from the resulting penalty Taylor crashed over from short range. Again Entwistle converted. Croesy scored their final try straight from the kick off. The rampaging forwards again charged up field before freeing the backs. Centre Tony Pullen broke clear before giving fellow centre Shane Williams a clear run to the line allowing Entwistle to slot over the simple conversion to give a final score of 48-0.
It was good to see the season end on a high and it was just reward for the players who had put in a battling performance the week before against title winners Brynmawr. The win cemented Croesy's fourth place in the league which is a creditable performance following last season's relegation. This could and probably should have been at least one place higher when you look back at a few poor performances, notably the defeat at Pontypool United after giving away a half-time lead, a poor draw at relegated Pontllanfraith and the home defeat to Cwmbran.
There were lots of pluses though, including the blooding of a number of youngsters such as Rob Baldock, Chris Small and Drew McGhee; the form of players like Entwistle, Howells and David Davies who have had outstanding seasons; the allround commitment of the whole squad and the coming together of a new coaching set up including former players Phil Daunter, Craig Saunders and Julian Seabourne who will be at the helm next season under the guidance of John Kerry.
Roll on 2008-09!