Rumney v Mt Ash 29.10.2011

SWALEC League Division 1 East

RUMNEY v MOUNTAIN ASH

Riverside Park, Rumney
Saturday 29th October 2011, k.o. 2.30 pm

 
Rumney v Mountain Ash 07.04.2007
Past playing record : played 6, Mountain Ash 3 wins, Rumney 3 wins

Rumney : 15.Dan Millward  14.Gareth Stoppani  13.Paul Niblett  12.Luke Fear  11.Solomon Matthews  10.Danny Clark  9.Chris Milton  8.Chris Jones  7.Simon Barry  6.Ryan Fenton  5.Michael Neale  4.Paul Bull  3.Darren Fenton  2.Michael Feneck (Capt)  1.John Leadbeatter
Replacements : 16.Colin O'Donoghue  17.Carl Fish  18.Joe Mills  19.Michael Young  20.Lewis Andrews

Mountain Ash : 15.Gareth Roberts  14.Liam Cooper-King  13.Dale Keepin  12.Rhys Parfitt  11.John Manuel  10.Keiron Olden  9.Meirion Thomas  8.Matthew Dixon  7.Scott Davies (Capt)  6.Gareth Waters  5.Dan Jones  4.Luke Brennan  3.Craig Thomas   2.Gavin Powell  1.James Cowdry
Replacements : 16.Craig Evans  17.L.Young  18.Josh Lewis  19.D.O'Brien  20.Chris Edmunds

Referee : Elwyn Marfell-Jones, Uplands, Swansea

Rumney 28   Mountain Ash 17

Scorers for Rumney : penalty try, Michael Feneck try, Michael Neale try, Ryan Fenton try, Danny Clark conversion and 2 penalties

Scorers for Mountain Ash  : Gareth Waters try, Craig Evans try, Chris Edmunds try, Josh Lewis conversion

Rumney made a vigorous start against a strong Mountain Ash side and kept possession for virtually the whole of the opening ten minutes, second row Mike Neale and prop John Leadbeatter thrusting forward at pace, lock Paul Bull and flankers Simon Barry and Ryan Fenton making darting runs, with Barry also posing a threat in the lineout, and No8 Chris Jones immediately into gear, bursting from the back of the scrum. In the eleventh minute The Old Firm were caught offside deep in their own twenty two, and although the visitors' pack would prove to be the stiffest opposition encountered this season, Rumney confidently opted for an attacking scrum. The remarkable scrummaging technique of Captain Michael Feneck, prop Darren Fenton and Leadbeatter ensured a powerful forward drive and when Mr Marfell-Jones decided that Mountain Ash had deliberately slipped their binding in order to prevent a score, he had no hesitation in heading for the posts to award a penalty try. Home outside half Danny Clark added the conversion and five minutes later slotted a further three points when The Old Firm offered Mr Marvell-Jones some unappreciated advice which resulted in a penalty and a further ten metres deduction, but the visitors' well drilled forwards were also becoming more composed and began setting up good phases for nippy scrum half Meirion Thomas to start running the ball and bring his backs into play. Neal and Chris Jones relished counterattacking from high balls and Rumney scrum half Chris Milton was in the thick of everything, demanding close attention from the opposition whenever he had the ball and firing it out to Clark to release their threequarters, while winger Gareth Stoppani, Barry, Bull and Leadbeatter continued with aggressive probes and breaks. The Mountain Ash pack patiently built up phases and moved into home territory where they kept play tight, until No8 Matthew Dixon fed Thomas and brought in fullback Gavin Roberts, who cut through the home defensive line from thirty five metres out and put flanker Gareth Waters in for the try. Realising the danger of The Old Firm's attacking methods, Rumney responded by pushing up more rapidy, Clark and Ryan Fenton closing down moves quickly, fullback Dan Millward coming up on the burst, and Milton harassing non stop to gain turnovers. In the twenty third minute Chris Jones again rampaged away from the base of the scrum, sailing thirty metres downfield and drawing in tacklers as he passed to Ryan Fenton who crashed over the line for a fine try. Chris Jones and Ryan Fenton were back in a action from the restart, making spectacular bursts in midfield, while The Old Firm responded with more, well structured, tight forward drives, dynamic work in the loose by flanker Captain Scott Davies and an effective thrust by second row Luke Brennan, which almost brought a try. Weather conditions began to deteriorate, the increased rain causing some handling errors but not dampening either side's intentions to run the ball, and Rumney wingers Solomon Matthews and Stoppani chased everything to keep up the pressure, Barry claimed turnover ball and lineout variations found Bull gaining possession at back of the line, and although the home domination of the scrummage was maintained, Dixon continued to impress at the rear of the Mountain Ash set piece and centres Dale Keepin and Rhys Parfitt were strong in defence and on the counterattack. As half time approached, Meirion Thomas received a yellow card and Rumney exploited the advantage, Clark systematically working the touchline with Barry securing the lineout and as the controlled forward drive advanced, Neale picked the appropriate moment to ground the ball over the tryline. Home centres Paul Niblett and Luke Fear were a constant threat to the Mountain Ash defences and also forced errors with their uncompromising tackles, but the Old Firm closed the half strongly, fiercely contesting every breakdown, and lineout stalward Dan Jones creating problems in the loose with barnstorming runs, but there were no further scores before the break and the interval scoreboard read Rumney 20 Mountain Ash 5.

The second half started with Rumney throwing the ball about confidently between forwards and backs and Mountain Ash concentrating on their successful forward effort, preferring to keep it tight and controlled and build up phases. Ryan Fenton, Darren Fenton, Leadbeatter and Feneck defended every inch as the Old Firm pressed and Stoppani provided the saving grace by racing back to save a certain try when a Mountain Ash breakout went almost the length of the field. Thomas efficiently controlled play for the visitors and a long period followed when Fear and Stoppani were required to put in more try saving tackles, and Milton defended courageously around the scrum and contact area. Judging that now was the time to make tactical changes, the Rumney coaches brought on Colin O'Donoghue in the front row, Joe Mills in the second row and Lewis Andrews at scrum half, and it was a very unexpected variation in tactics that saw Clark launch a huge speculative up and under which deceived the defence, allowed Nibblet to expertly mop up possession and return the ball to the outside half, who hoisted another mighty kick to find Feneck in acres of space on the opposite wing, the happy hooker gathering well and crashing over to score. The Old Firm also made a raft of changes and returned to the offensive, Keepin and Parfitt dashing down the tramlines and only being stopped by a crunching tackle from Andrews, and they succeeded in penning Rumney near their own twenty two. In the sixty seventh minute clever work by replacement hooker Craig Evans brought an opportunist try for the visitors, Evans himself throwing in a snap lineout ball to Brennan and then taking the quick return to rush twenty five metres to score in the corner and reduce the gap to 25-10. Four minutes later, the home side having worked their way to the Mountain Ash twenty two, visiting winger Liam Cooper-King was yellow carded for a late tackle on Clark, the outside half replying by slotting a good penalty to again stretch the lead to 28-10, but the Old Firm came back strongly, forcing gaps in the Rumney defences and attacking the contact area where Barry was judged to have stopped a promising move by entering a ruck from the side, and was duly dispatched to the bin by a stern faced Mr Marfell-Jones. Mountain Ash went for the lineout where they set up a solid catch and drive before releasing the ball, Rumney second row Mike Young, Niblett and Matthews all producing vital crunching tackles to keep the Old Firm at Bay, but the visitors were not to be denied and from another confident lineout Dan Jones set up the well planned driving maul for replacement flanker Chris Edmunds to burrow over and score. Josh Lewis's excellent touchline conversion set up an exciting final five minutes, but it was to be a scrappy last period with many dropped passes and errors, and considering the conditions, both sides were to be applauded for contributing to an engrossing encounter which produced seven tries and a final result of Rumney 28 Mountain Ash 17.  

Matt Silva, Coach Rumney 1st XV : "The pleasing thing for us was that we played to our structures, stuck to the gameplan and were very disciplined throughout the game. Our defence was solid and on occasions Mountain Ash were going through numerous phases without making any yards. I don't say this lightly as Mountain Ash are a big, physical team who are doing well in the League this season, however this does not take take away anything from the clinical performance by Rumney today. As on many occasions this season, our pack has proven too strong for the opposition but we have failed to capitalise on their good work, today however we managed to make good use of the go-forward that the pack created, and went on to score some good tries. As was the case last week, there were excellent performances throughout the team, with Chris Jones and Ryan Fenton leading from the front. Danny Clark was once again consistent with his kicking out of hand, kicking at goal and good distribution skills. Today's Man of the Match was Ryan Fenton for his sheer workrate and hunger to win. We now face Ebbw Vale next week, where we will be looking to compete with what I feel is the best side in the League. This Rumney team is capable of upsetting the odds and beating them on their own patch, although it will take an almighty effort. On behalf of the team, myself and everyone at the club, I would like to wish Rumney prop Dan Holliday all the best on his call up for international duty with Malta."

Paul Niblett, centre Rumney 1st XV : "It is very pleasing to get two wins on the bounce, following on from last week. The conditions were very wet and muddy, but the pack were exceptional again and like last Saturday, dominated up front, Chris Jones was outstanding. I felt we were always in control of the game and we will be looking for that kind of performance in our tough fixture against Ebbw Vale next week. It will be very tough up there, but we needed a win and we did that today. It was Ryan Fenton's first game back for a while and he scored a try and put in an outstanding performance. We don't seem to be getting a lot of ball in the backs, we haven't played to our potential, but we have made breaks and kept the pressure on well, and when we do get it right, a lot of tries will come our way, our wingers and fullback can cause problems for anyone."

 
Above, left : Matt Silva, right : Paul Niblett

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