Rumney v Ystrad Rhondda 12.09.09

SWALEC League Division 1 East

RUMNEY v YSTRAD RHONDDA

Riverside Park, Rumney
Saturday 12th September 2009, k.o. 2.30 pm

Ystrad Rhondda v Rumney 25.10.2008
Past playing record : played 4, Ystrad Rhondda 4 wins, Rumney 0 wins

Rumney : 15. Dafydd Evans 14. Lincoln Plummer 13. Gareth Spain 12. Paul Niblett 11. Jay Smith 10. Daniel Clarke 9. Chris Milton 8. Mike Kelly 7. Matthew Way 6. Anthony Wilson 5. Paul Bull 4. Joe Mills 3. Darren Fenton 2. Mike Feneck (Capt) 1. John Leadbeatter Replacements: 16. David Evans 17. Sean Spavin 18. Grant Harrington 19. Joe Deacon 20. Lewis Andrews

Ystrad Rhondda : 15. Geraint Shalton 14. Daniel John 13. Gareth Pugh 12. Dale Griffiths 11. Andrew Hutchings 10. Dylan Jones (Capt) 9. Marc Jones 8. Thomas Hetherington 7. Tom Hockin 6. James Goodman 5. Nathan Hughes 4. Christopher Hitt 3. Craig Griffiths 2. Carl Facey 1. Jonathan Watkins
Replacements: 16. Cain Rees 17. Neil Jones 18. Stefan Resoli 19. Gareth Caplin 20. David Owen

Referee : David Williams, Caldicot

Rumney 33 Ystrad Rhondda 7

Scorers for Rumney : Chris Milton 2 tries, John Leadbeatter try, Dafydd Evans try, Danny Clark 2 conversions and 3 penalties

Scorers for Ystrad Rhondda : Daniel John try, Dylan Jones conversion

Another superb all round performance by Rumney put them at the top of the SWALEC League Division 1 East with maximum points. The dominance of the Rumney pack over the Ystrad Rhondda forwards, particularly in the scrummage, laid the foundations for a spectacular victory against one of the best sides in the division, and a team which they had never previously beaten. The pace with which the home side started the match at Riverside Park clearly rattled the visitors and Rumney outside half Danny Clark landed a penalty after thirty six seconds of play. Home scrum half Chris Milton was immediately in action at full speed and winger Jay Smith was fast up, chasing kicks and causing Ystrad to rush into giving away another penalty. Clark, who was to kick magnificently and tactically control the game throughout the afternoon, slotted the points after six minutes. Rumney flanker Anthony Wilson ruled the early lineouts and connected with prop John Leadbeatter to set up possession for the backs, Leadbeatter also ripping out the ball in mauls, No8 Michael Kelly breaking through midfield with Milton and full back Dafydd Evans entering the line on the burst. In the face of this pressure Ystrad found themselves starved of possession but looked very dangerous when they did have ball in hand. Rumney's top quality front row forwards, Leadbeatter, Captain Michael Feneck and Darren Fenton scrummaged superbly and in the thirteenth minute a huge drive from the back five sent the visitors' scrum backwards, conceding another penalty, which Clark duly put over for a 9 - 0 lead. Known as an attacking side, Ystrad worked their way into the Rumney half where the sharp centre partnership of Gareth Pugh and Dale Griffiths cut loose at speed, only being stopped by a well organised defence, the Rumney backs also decisively tackling wing Daniel John and fullback Geraint Shalton when they threatened to break through. In the tight play and also in the loose, Fenton, second rows Paul Bull and Joe Mills, and hooker Feneck athletically drove forward at pace, while in the centre Paul Niblett and Gareth Spain benefitted from space and the good possession coming from the set pieces, particularly Wilson's efforts in the Rumney lineout. The potency of the Ystrad backs became clear in the twentieth minute when their outstanding No8 Thomas Hetherington gathered a difficult ball at the back of a retreating scrum and set up the move which saw winger John sprint from inside his own twenty two to score a spectacular opening try under the posts, outside half Dylan Jones converting to peg the score back to 9 - 7. This was a good period for the visitors, Hetherington continuing to take them into home territory and the pace of the game was such that in the intense heat referee David Williams wisely insisted on short water breaks to prevent dehydration. The Rumney pack continued to work as a particularly cohesive unit, flanker Matthew Way putting in another impressive performance with a tireless workrate in attack and defence, while Clark kicked superbly to keep the opposition on the retreat. In the twenty ninth minute the home forwards drove back a short range scrum and Milton snapped up the ball to dive over and score, Rumney's pattern of forward control and accurate line kicking taking them to half time with a 14 - 7 lead.

The solid home defence was again tested at the start of the second half as Ystrad launched snappy handling movements, Shalton, Dylan Jones and scrum half Marc Jones probing and looking for gaps. Second row Grant Harrington came on in the Rumney powerhouse and the domination by the home pack continued, but when Ystrad flanker Tom Hockin made a fine break from a lineout, he was judged to have held the ball on the ground and from the resulting penalty Milton broke upfield, aided and abetted by Bull, and from the second phase Niblett sent out a perfectly timed pass for Clark to split the defence and return the ball to Milton to score his second try. Clark's conversion extended the lead to 21 - 7 and in the fifty sixth minute, following intricate interplay between the Rumney backs and forwards, Fenton set up possession for Leadbeatter to pick up and crash over to score a deserved opportunist try. More powerful counterattacks came from the Ystrad Rhondda backs and Hetherington continued to work tirelessly, Rumney needing crunching tackles by Harrington and Wilson to prevent scores. Home winger Lincoln Plummer had been busy looking for work all afternoon and brought off a try saving pursuit and tackle when the Ystrad backs broke away. Rumney's fourth and final try came in the sixty ninth minute from another forwards and backs interchange, an outrageous reverse pass from Milton and a well timed ball from Clark putting Evans through on the burst for a spectacular touchdown.The home side's strength in depth was shown when Coaches Matt Silva and Graham Daley made changes, having already brought on Shaun Spavin, who slotted in well in the back row, they introduced mighty prop David Evans and lightning fast halfbacks Lewis Andrews and Joe Deacon, all of whom added another dimension to the play and posed further problems for the visitors. The blazing, late summer heat continued to the final whistle, both sides keeping up the relentless tempo to the very end of a highly entertaining and exciting game, the scoreboard reading 33 - 7 at full time.

Matt Silva, Coach Rumney 1st XV : "I was very pleased with the performance, pleased for the boys, I think that once this side starts believing in itself they will be very formidable opponents. The scrum was outstanding today and the lineout was one hundred percent effective with another brilliant performance from the back row. Basically, Michael Feneck is now starting to settle into the role of club Captain and is turning into a very competent leader. We could have scored more points if we played what was in front of us once the game was won, that would be in an ideal world, but I am more than happy with how the season is going so far. This was a big improvement on the last time Rumney played Ystrad Rhondda, in that game Rumney missed thirty one tackles and today we missed nine tackles, the rest speaks for itself. The Man of the Match was prop John Leadbeatter but from 1 - 15 it was a highly effective performance. The front row and back five were good and all the partnerships and units worked well. We are looking forward to playing Beddau and will not be taking them lightly, it's a tough place to go to play rugby and having coached them myself, I'll show them the utmost respect. "

John Leadbeatter, loosehead prop Rumney 1st XV : "The scrum was strong again, it's hard for any team to play off a scrum that's going backward. The backs are looking really sharp this year but everyone from 1 - 20 put their hand up, played well and did themselves proud. The scrums and lineouts went well, and we definitely had the better of Ystrad."

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Try scorers : Daniel John (29 mins), Chris Milton (36 mins), Chris Milton (50 mins), John Leadbeatter (56 mins), Dafydd Evans (69 mins)