Senghenydd away 19th April 2008
Croesyceiliog 34 Senghenydd 15
Croesy entertained bottom club Senghenydd at Woodland Road on yet another rainy Saturday in conditions that worsened by the minute. After the very disappointing defeat to Cwmbran, the cockerels needed a good display before travelling to league leaders Brynmawr next Saturday.
Unfortunately the start was not encouraging, as within 5 minutes the Senghenydd scrum half took advantage of lax defending by Croesy at the set piece to run 40 metres and send in his winger for an unconverted try. This woke the Croesy team and as a result of a number of penalties conceded by Senghenydd near their own 22 metre line two tries were scored by flanker Gavin Howells within a period of five minutes. Both followed line out drives near the Senghenydd line.The first try was converted by full back David Davies. Croesy were beginning to look comfortable, but failed to take advantage of their dominance of possession. Senghenydd hit back on the half-hour with a cross-kick exposing the Croesy defence out wide allowing a simple run in for a secod unconverted try.
With half-time approaching it appeared that the game was becoming close. However with Senghenydd conceding another penalty near their 22, Croesy again chose to go for a lineout. For the third time, a drive from the lineout resulted in a try for Gavin Howells, converted by David Davies. This allowed Croesy to lead 19-10 at half-time.
The first twenty minutes of the second-half saw Croesy dominate and run in three good unconverted tries through Tony Pullen, Jim Sargent and Gavin Howells again, scoring his 4th try of the match (although he would be the first to admit that the first three belonged to the whole pack!) The handling produced in deteriorating conditions in this period was at times excellent. The weather however eventually gained the upper hand as the ball appeared to resemble a bar of soap. Senghenydd did strike back with their 3rd unconverted try near the end but were not going to threaten an upset. The referee finally bringing proceedings to end with Croesy winning 34 -15.
The performance was a vast improvement on the previous week, with the pack performing well and dominating the game. The backs as a unit also showed glimpses of their early season form in treacherous conditions.