Fixture

Cowbridge RFC welcomed visitors Abercwmboi to the Athletic Ground on a damp and overcast day. 

 

Playing in their change kit of red, black and white hoops, Cowbridge struck first after 7 minutes when centre Tom Hannah broke through the midfield defence on the halfway line and racing clear into the visitor’s 22, fed No8 James Bennett who deftly spun out of a covering tackle to score for a 5-0 lead.

It was the visitors who struck next after 17 mins following a well worked move by their backs, which took them to within 10m of the tryline. They were awarded a penalty and with their heavier pack of forwards now gaining the upper hand, they opted for a scrum and from this solid platform they worked their centre over for a try, converted for a 5-7 lead.

 

Cowbridge struck back on 23mins following a late tackle on Hannah. A penalty kick to the corner and a clean take by captain Ross Gibbon from the resulting line out, saw the home forwards drive the maul towards the tryline where James Holder then broke down the blindside to crash over. An excellent conversion by prop Sam Richards from the touchline, followed by a penalty a couple of minutes later, gave Cowbridge a 15-7 lead after half an hour. 

Cowbridge continued to press but the visitors strong pack and excellent defence created a few mistakes which eased the pressure. Cowbridge were soon down to 14 players when Zac Summerhayes was yellow carded and Abercwmboi took full advantage. After several phases of driving play by their pack, their No8 ghosted through the home defence for a try which was duly converted to make it 15-14 at half time.

 

The second half saw the visiting pack grow in dominance, expertly shepherded around the pitch by their big kicking outside half. The sides exchanged penalties but with pressure increasing, the Cowbridge defence was having to dig deep to keep Abercwmboi at bay. An infringement on the home try line saw hard working flanker Dan Holder receive Cowbridge's 2nd yellow card with 15 minutes left and Cowbridge also lost prop Richards through injury. This led to a frantic passage of play with Abercwmboi’s forwards hammering the home tryline. Despite some desperate tackling, typified by Adam Dix holding up their No8 over the line, it was only a matter of time before the visitors scored again, this time through their hooker which was converted to take a 24-18 lead. The killer blow though came within a minute of the restart. A well executed cross field kick by the outside half was gathered at full pace by the right wing who raced over in the corner to extend the lead to 29-18, and secure the visitors a bonus point. Cowbridge did press for the last few minutes to try and gain a losing bonus point, but to no avail.

 

Abercwmboi came with a game plan which suited their strengths and their experienced side executed it well and they were deserving winners but it was a frustrating loss for Cowbridge. Despite being up against much bigger opponents, the players worked hard to secure a steady stream of possession but were guilty of getting into an arm wrestle with the visitors, instead of playing to their own strengths and using their pace and fitness to move the ball wide. 

 

Next week we are at home again, this time to Caerphilly RFC and the boys will be looking to get back winning ways so all support is welcome. 

 

The club would also like to take this opportunity to remember Rees Roberts who sadly passed away recently. Rees played for Cowbridge for many years and our condolences go to Kay and the family at this sad time.

 

 GT/RK/RV