Ystradgynlais 24 Trebanos 8
Saturday 8th September 2007.
Trebanos journeyed five miles up the Swansea Valley to near-neighbours
Ystradgynlais in search of a second consecutive victory in Division 5
South West.
Trebanos started promisingly and a well-worked move sent in wing Steve
'Eyes' Williams for the opening try of the game after just three minutes. Ystrad were soon on level terms when Trebanos lost control of
a scrummage near their own line, and, when the ball popped out, the
Ystrad number 8 was on hand to gather and score the simplest of tries.
Worse was soon to follow for Trebanos when Ystrad added a second try
to stretch their advantage to 10 - 5 after just 15 minutes of play.
A period of sustained Trebanos pressure failed to yield any further
score and, when a breakout by Ystrad sent their right wing clear, only
a fine cover tackle by captain Amer Hussain, and good work by full back
Matthew Edwards, prevented a further score. However, Ystrad secured
possession from the resulting lineout and some slick handling resulted
in a third Ystrad try, which was duly converted.
Trebanos' pack began to gain the upper hand in exchanges, with Nathan
Bartlett prominent in the scrum. With the set pieces going well, it
seemed inevitable that Trebanos would soon add to their score.
However, they suffered a blow just short of half time when they lost
veteran prop Simon Knight with an arm injury. In spite of their
continued dominance, Trebanos' only further reward in the half was to
be a penalty, converted from 35 metres, by centre Rhodri Thomas, making
the half time score Ystradgynlais 17 Trebanos 8.
Trebanos started the second half as they had ended the first and
proceeded to create a number of promising chances. However, some good
Ystrad defence, and erratic handling from Trebanos, combined to ensure
that the score remained unchanged until late in the half, when Ystrad
capitalised on defensive errors to score their fourth, and final try.
The conversion made the final score Ystradgynlais 24 Trebanos 8.
Despite the defeat, Trebanos should be encouraged that they competed well with Ystrad, many people's pre-season tip for the Division 5 South West title, and the promising performances of younger members of the Trebanos squad bodes well for the remainder of the season.
Trebanos team:
15. Matthew Edwards
14. Steve Williams
13. Amer Hussain (capt).
12. Rhodri Thomas
11. Lee Pickman
10. Kevin Windsor
9. Owain George
1. Nathan Bartlett
2. Dai Davies
3. Simon Knight
4. Liam Jones
5. James Erasmus
6. Ryan Philips
7. Malcolm Whiteman
8. Luke Davies
Replacements
Cerith Edward (for Lee Pickman).
Chris Jones (for Simon Knight).
Richard Langford (for Ryan Philips).
Scott Barrett (for Matthew Edwards).