Hirwaun 7 Sports 35
The Sports won the toss and chose to play up the slope which resulted in long periods of being camped deep in their own half. The pack well led by captain Chris Norris worked tirelessly and through the experienced back row of Gary Punter, Rhys Dowling and Keith Burke stole a lot of Hirwaun's possession and break up the attacking play of the home side. The Sports managed to get into Hirwaun's half on two occasions in the first quarter which resulted in 6 points through the boot of Mathew Murphy. As the Sports pack warmed into the game the flow of good ball started to increase which allowed the half backs to release more ball to the centres. Hirwaun's first phase defence was difficult to break down and it took a couple of excellent breaks by outside centre Michael John to get the Sports well past the gain line.
The first try of the match came from a superb break by the outside centre who fed on to Jamie Lorimer who had a couple of players to beat before scoring under the posts. At this point it was 13-0 and with the slope in the second half the Sports looked to have set the game up perfectly for the second half. Hirwaun however came storming back into the game with a brilliant solo try from their number eight. He caught a clearing kick on his ten meter line broke the first tackle, ran through the sports defence before chipping past the full back to touchdown under the posts. The Hirwaun number 8 had an excellent all round game and was a real threat every time he had space to move. The half ended at 13-7 to the sports.
The fitness of the sports pack became evident in the second half with Hirwaun constantly giving penalties away at the breakdown in an attempt to slow down the sports open play. The first try of the second half came from yet another penalty. After several phases of open attacking rugby the sports were camped on the home sides line. The ball was at the back of a ruck with the try line less than a meter away when a Hirwaun player came in from the side to stop a certain try. The referee who had become frustrated with the continual offending awarded a penalty try and sin-binned the home sides no 6. With the sports now well on top a bonus point was the priority.
Michael John capped a classy display with a trademark interception try with Hirwaun trying to run the ball out of defence. Roddy Boobyer again controlled the midfield. His experience and eye for the break always had the team going forward. From a Boobyer clean break the final try of the game was scored by full back Jason Evans. The kicking of Mathew Murphy, three penalties and three conversions, is a big plus for the Sports this season. Mathew has returned to the club from Tondu and has settled into the team very well. His control and ability is allowing the team to play an all round game. On the whole an excellent afternoon with the final score at 35-7 and a very hard earned bonus point away from home.