Blackwood v Rumney 24.10.09

SWALEC League Division 1 East

BLACKWOOD v RUMNEY

Glan-yr Afon Park, Blackwood
Saturday 24th October 2009, k.o. 2.30 pm

Blackwood v Rumney 07.03.2008
Past playing record : played 18, Rumney 5 wins, Blackwood 12 wins, 1 draw

Rumney : 15. Dafydd Evans 14. Lincoln Plummer 13. Lee Mullane  12. Paul Niblett 11. Dan Millward 10. Danny Clark  9. Lewis Andrews  8. Michael Kelly  7. Matthew Way  6. Ryan Sutton  5. Joe Mills 4. Mike Neale  3. Darren Fenton 2. Michael Feneck (Capt) 1. John Leadbeatter
Replacements: 16.Ryan Fenton 17.Chris Milton 18. James Monck 19. Paul Bull  20. Shaun Spavin

Blackwood : 15. Sean Emery 14. Kristan Perry 13. Luke Knight 12. Gareth Price  11. Joe Bajjada  10. Matthew Spencer   9. Gavin Rees/Mark Birkby  8. David Brake  7. Andrew Coupe  6. Dean Gibbs  5. Mark Gwilt  4. Gareth Short  3. Rhys Morgan  2. Rhys Price  1. Aaron Coundley
Replacements: 16. Gavin Rees/Mark Birkby  17.David James  18. Gareth Rusby-Davies  19. Stuart Vokes  20. Alex Borghese

Referee : Paul Richards, Droitwich

Blackwood 16 Rumney 10

Scorers for Rumney : Danny Clark conversion and penalty, penalty try

Scorer for Blackwood : Gareth Price try and conversion and three penalties

 

Rumney conceded penalties from the opening minute and in the eighth minute, when they were penalised for pulling down a maul, were surprised by Blackwood centre Gareth Price who took a quick tap and darted over for a try and conversion. The visitors' pack functioned well, Captain Michael Feneck winning turnover ball, flanker Ryan Sutton ruling the lineout and No8 Michael Kelly providing a steadying influence from the set pieces. The first scrummage showed that the Rumney pack would again dominate this phase of play, scrum half Lewis Andrews probing, passing well behind them and tackling big forwards, and in the loose flanker Matthew Way looked very sharp with second row Joe Mills battering through the opposition. Although moving backwards at most scrums, the Blackwood forwards were an effective unit and often used No8 David Brake to gain possession and advance from the base of the scrum, but the Rumney front row of Darren Fenton, Feneck and John Leadbeatter occasionally forced their opposite numbers to pop up or go into reverse and the visitors enjoyed a good period of territorial advantage with full back Dafydd Evans faultlessly fielding and returning high balls, centres Lee Mullane and Paul Niblett strong in midfield and outside half Danny Clark controlling tactics.  A brilliant break by Clark was stopped close to the Blackwood tryline but Rumney killed the ball and the home side were given a relieving penalty, which was followed shortly by an offside offence and Price made no mistake with the kick to put Blackwood ahead by 10 - 0, twenty seven minutes into the game. More indiscipline followed with Mr Richards penalising Rumney for not releasing, for a deliberate knock forward and for verbal comments. The home side kept play tight, outside half Matthew Spencer working closely with his forwards in midfield, but more good loose possession by Fenton, a lineout steal by Sutton  and important tackles by Way kept them out, and both sets of backs looked sharp when they had the ball, though the wet conditions caused plenty of handling errors and there were no further scores before the interval.

A lively opening period at the start of the second half found the Blackwood pack driving forward but the Rumney defences were sound, Fenton putting in excellent covering work and Leadbeatter taking ball away from the opposition, and the backs exchanging speculative kicks hoping to force mistakes in the deteriorating conditions. In the fifty fourth minute Clark kicked a penalty for the visitors but two minutes later they gave away another penalty in front of the posts and Price put it over for a 13 - 3 scoreline. Rumney second row Mike Neale was having a particularly good game gaining loose possession, carrying well and putting in important tackles and when the pack lodged in the Blackwood twenty two, was unlucky not to grab a try, but the increased pressure from the visiting forwards  led to a Blackwood yellow card and when, in the sixty fourth minute, the home pack found themselves in severe difficulties, Mr Richards identified a number of offences and headed under the sticks to award a penalty try. With the scores now at a close 13 - 10, accurate, distance kicks by Clark and dangerous breaks by wingers Lincoln Plummer and Dan Millward and fullback Evans led to what looked like a promising period for Rumney but even more penalties were conceded and this allowed Blackwood to reorganise and again threaten the visitors' line, where tireless defence and the ability to win turnovers prevented Blackwood scoring but also reduced Rumney's chances of gaining more points. In the seventy second minute Price kicked another penalty at which point the visitors, searching for a converted try with which to win the game, made changes, Paul Bull coming on in the second row, Chris Milton at scrum half and Ryan Fenton in the back row. The Rumney forwards and Milton stepped up the pace and Plummer and Evans came close to scoring but with time running out, risks had to be taken, so more penalties were conceded and from a turnover Blackwood carefully worked their way back into the visitors' territory and tightened up play until time ran out and they could take the spoils of a dour game at 16 - 10.

Matt Silva, Coach Rumney 1st XV : "A slow start cost us dearly and also playing in wet and windy conditions. It is to their credit that both teams endeavoured to play quality rugby but with a slippery ball and slippery conditions underfoot, neither side managed to finish off any promising game play. If Rumney can go to places like Blackwood and still be in the game at the end, it could spell out promising times ahead for the team. The Rumney set piece was once again dominant, which is not something to be taken lightly against a side of Blackwood's calibre, we do have a good platform to work from but our play is sometimes one dimensional. We created a lot of opportunities but the last pass or finishing touches got the better of us. We won enough territory and possession to gain a victory, we are a developing side and will continue to progress to a stage where we can close out these games. To Blackwood's credit, they had a few chances when in our twenty two and they took them, and we can learn a lot from that. They are the current Division One champions and whilst I am happy with the performance, I am disappointed for the players that we didn't get the victory. The Man of the Match was Matthew Way."

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Try scorers : Gareth Price (8 mins), Rumney penalty try (64 mins)