Rumney v Tredegar 24.09.2011

SWALEC League Division 1 East

RUMNEY v TREDEGAR

Riverside Park, Rumney
Saturday 24th September 2011, k.o. 2.30 pm

 
Rumney v Tredegar 10.04.2010
Past playing record : played 19, Rumney 9 wins, Tredegar 10 wins

Rumney : 15.Joe Offside  14.Gareth Stoppani  13.Lewis Rees  12.Luke Fear  11.Solomon Matthews  10.Danny Clark (Capt)  9.Lewis Andrews  8.Michael Kelly  7.Matthew Way  6.Anthony Wilson  5.Michael Young  4.Joe Mills  3.Darren Fenton  2.Nathan Bridson  1.John Leadbeatter
Replacements : 16.Simon Barry  17.Dan Holliday  18.Chris Milton  19.Paul Bull  20.Carl Fish

Tredegar : 15.Gareth Kearney  14.Greg Plant  13.A.N. Other  12.Matt McGovern  11.Richard Dennington  10.Scott Amber  9.Jason Williams  8.Cameron Price-Regan  7.Alun Jenkins  6.Steve Knight  5.Anthony Simmons  4.Ryan Thomas (Capt)  3.Andrew Grant  2.Owen Crowley  1.Brett Mountney
Replacements : 16.Paul Edwards  17.Will Evans  18.Mickey Gould  19.Tom Brown  20.Rhys Hallett

Referee : Paul Richards, Droitwich

Rumney 39  Tredegar 5

Scorers for Rumney : Gareth Stoppani 2 tries, Solomon Matthews try, Simon Barry try, Paul Bull try, Danny Clark try and 3 conversions and penalty

Scorer for Tredegar  : Greg Plant try

Rumney returned to winning ways in their fourth match of the season by running in six tries against a determined Tredegar side and finally showed the kind of form which had characterised their play last year. Second row Joe Mills and prop John Leadbeatter were the first to show of their running skills as the home side immediately went on the offensive and flanker Anthony Wilson stole opposition ball in the lineout. The early Rumney offensive was soon blunted when they conceded a penalty for offside and Tredegar made good use of accurate lineout possession to feed centre Matt McGovern who spread it wide to winger Greg Plant, the movement only being stopped by an excellent tackle from home fullback Joe Offside. Rumney were dominant in the set scrums, Leadbeatter, hooker Nathan Bridson and tight head Darren Fenton frequently forcing the opposing scrummagers into reverse, but Tredegar showed plenty of attacking qualities and were able to gain ground, until they conceded penalties and were driven back by accurate Clark penalties, but nevertheless returned to the Rumney half and in the sixteenth minute, the home defence having drifted too far to one side of the field, spread the ball wide, bringing in full back Gareth Kearney and freeing winger Greg Plant to sprint forty metres to score in the corner. Rumey centre Lewis Rees and winger Gareth Stoppani looked sharp on the break, and in the twenty first minute, with the Tredegar pack having been pushed off the ball in a set scrum, No8 Michael Kelly picked up and drove forward with Mills and Way carrying it on, until Andrews and Clark moved it wide and Stoppani cut through the opposition to score a fine try, Clark's excellent conversion opening up a lead of 7-5. Injuries forced Rumney second row Mike Young and flanker Anthony Wilson to leave the field, Paul Bull and Simon Barry coming on, though Wilson would return, only to have to retire again later.  In  the twenty ninth minute Way gained clean lineout ball with an outstanding take and centre Luke Fear timed his pass expertly to set up a devestating break by Rees and Stoppani, finished off by a blistering sprint from winger Solomon Matthews who brushed off tackles to score a very good try. The home side were now looking comfortable, Clark in particular bringing a steadying influence and careful control to the game with lengthy touchfinders, Offside and Stoppani counterattacking at pace and the outside half adding a thirty first minute penalty to extend the gap to 15-5. As the interval approached, another powerfully controlled Rumney scrum took play deep into the Tredegar twenty two and Andrews snapped the ball out to Clark, who dodged over for the try, his conversion bringing the half to an end at 22-5.

 

The opening passage of the second half found Rumney lodged in the Tredegar half, following brilliant work by Mills under the high ball, and Rees and Stoppani again threatening to break through. At a rare Tredegar turnover, half backs David Birkeby and Scott Amber demonstrated their strike potential, outside half Amber in particular showing his attacking abilty with ball in hand, but a loose clearance was well gathered by Stoppani who linked with Bridson, the  mobile hooker driving deep into the opposing defenders and setting up good second phase for Stoppani to regain the ball, chip ahead, gather and race away for an outstanding solo try. The home backs continued to impress, Fear making a searing, long break to set up a lineout on the Tredegar five metre line, from which Way gathered, Fenton and Leadbeatter could not be held in their drive forward and the dynamic Barry touched down to score. As play moved into the final quarter, Tredegar pressed hard, No8 Cameron Price-Regan, second row Ryan Thomas and flanker Alun Jenkins gaining hard yards and Kearney again striking from deep. Chris Milton took the field for Rumney at scrum half and Carl Fish at flanker, both putting in elusive, high paced and aggressive bursts, which proved disconcerting for the opposition and in the seventy first minute, a perfectly controlled lineout and long range drive led to Bull crossing for the home side's final try, Clark again adding the extra points. The closing minutes produced no more scores, Milton continuing to raise the tempo and Stoppani once more breaking clear, but Mr Richards' whistle brought proceedings to an end, Rumney's largely disciplined performance bringing them the spoils at 39-5.

Matt Silva, Coach Rumney 1st XV : "This was a much needed win, as I said in my last post, losing was not an option today. From studying Tredegar we know they are going through difficult times and are just about putting a squad together at the moment, but to their credit they outplayed us in the first twenty minutes having the majority of the possession and territory. We weathered the storm well, only conceding the one try, we were patient throughout the game, waiting for opportunities to arise and capitalising on Tredegar mistakes. The one thing this league provides week in week out is opposition that never give up. When you get the opportunity to finish sides off, you have to do so, as we found last week, losing our lead to Treorchy in injury time. The boys have worked extremely hard in training this week to put right discrepancies in the first three games. There were some excellent performances today with Danny Clark absolutley outstanding in his attitude and his desire to win games, however I feel this week's Man of the Match award goes to our newly recruited winger Gareth Stoppani. Gareth is a young student and is improving with every game. It is also nice to welcome back Lewis Rees who has spent the last two years in rugby league."

John Leadbeatter, prop Rumney 1st XV : "For the first time this season everything has come together. The forwards dominated the set piece and starved Tredegar of possession, and the backs clicked and played really well. Hopefully this is the start of a winning run for us, the pack were together in the way they have been in previous seasons. Lewis Andrews bossed the game at scrum half and Lewis Rees did well on his debut."

Above, left to right : John Leadbeatter, Gareth Stoppani, Lewis Rees, Carl Fish

Click here to see all the tries from this game and add your comments