Fixture

Cowbridge Excel at Tonyrefail

Looking to consolidate 2nd place in the league Cowbridge 1st XV travelled to Tonyrefail last Saturday.Despite heavy rain over the previous two days the pitch was in remarkably good condition which suited Cowbridge's running game.Within five minutes of the kick off Cowbridge were on the scoreboard.A lineout on the home 22 was secured by Ross Gibbon and the ball was spun out to centre Alex Guard who slipped the ball to the charging Joe Davies who crashed over for his eleventh try of the season,converted expertly by full back Zac Summerhayes.The next five minutes were punctuated by penalty after penalty,much to the bemusement of both sides but is was the home side who benefited with a try.From the kick off Cowbridge secured the ball and were awarded a penalty,taken by Gibbon who was driven over the line by the whole pack.It was attack again from the kick off as the ball went through the hands of half back Hywel Williams and Tom James before Guard released flying wing Will Williams on the half way line who outstripped the defence for a fine try converted by Summerhayes.It was now Tonyrefail's to for a bit of pressure but they were unable to convert it into points.After a lull in play Cowbridge's dominant scrum,with front row of Jon Bater,Craig Boxall and Dani John in fine form,gave scrum half Williams a platform to break up the middle passing to powerful centre Tom Harrison to charge over for the bonus point try,again converted by Summerhayes.From the kick off Cowbridge secured the ball and just about all the pack handled the ball with Joe Davies,Craig Boxall  and Jack Anderson prominent before dynamic back rower Dan Holder burst through in the corner.With half time looming Alex Guard took the ball from the kick off and ghosted through what seemed to be the whole Tonyrefail team to score a beautiful try - Cowbridge's sixth.

Half time Tonyrefail 5 Cowbridge 36 

Cowbridge rang the changes at half time with Rhys Price and Adam Dix joining the fray and from the start Cowbridge attacked and after passing through many hands the ball reached captain Richie Howson,who had moved to centre from wing forward,who sprinted over from the Tonyrefail 22.Breathtaking stuff.Summerhayes added his fourth conversion.Soon back on the attack a great break by Adam Dix almost resulted in a second try for wing Williams but the ball went to ground.On the other wing some barnstorming runs by Fraser McGann kept Cowbridge moving forward and it wasn't long before a eighth try as some lovely inter-passing amongst the forwards resulted in Dan Holder going over for his second try and a fine conversion by Summerhayes.Veteran Dave Breed and considerably younger Sam Richards came on and after some further impressive inter-passing Alex Guard went over for his second try and Summerhayes sixth conversion.The tempo dropped for a while,allowing the home side to score their second try but it was Cowbridge who finished on a high.With just minutes to go Rhys Price and Sam Richards drove up up the middle only for the Ref. to give a penalty to Ton which he then reversed.Guardy took a quick tap,broke through the defence and released Howson for his second try followed by the final whistle.

Final Score Tonyrefail 10 Cowbridge 62  

So a further step towards promotion with a convincing bonus point victory.The pack were outstanding,allowing the backs to run freely throughout the game resulting in ten tries. 

There are four games to go and bonus points victory in all four would guarantee going up.We travel to Ynysowen this Saturday,Tonyrefail at home on 14th,Wattstown home on 28th and finally Canton home on Wednesday 2nd May.Several of the other teams in contention have more games to play.For example Llantwit,despite a surprise defeat at Wattstown on Saturday, still have six to play.It's going to be a fascinating end to the season and all support will give the boys a tremendous boost.

The Youth had a great win over Aberdare last Saturday and the next scheduled fixture is a visit to Mountain Ash on 7th April 

RV/RK