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07 February 2020 / Club News

Semi Final Result

West Wales Rugby Union Bowl Semi Final

TYCROES 18 ATHLETIC 11

The calm before the arrival of Storm Ciara on the weekend saw a perfect evening for rugby played out at the neutral ground of Hendy RFC. These two League 2 West adversaries battled out a no quarter given semi final in front of a sizeable crowd.

Right from the kick off, the failure to gather by Athletic immediately put Tycroes on the front foot, continuous pressure resulted in a penalty after five minutes which was duly despatched by full back Aled Rees Jones to give the Rams an early lead. The restart saw the Red & Blacks take play into opposition territory where scores were levelled through the boot of centre Liam Price. Athletic dominated territory and ten minutes later, a similar effort by Price sailed just wide of the target. Tycroes broke out from their 22, and a clever chip ahead bounced gratefully into their centre's hands who in turn passed to the pacy right wing Elgan Griffiths to run in for a fine try. The conversion attempt by Rees Jones failed. Athletic responded well and played much of the remainder of the half in the opposition's half. The only reward for their effort was another Liam Price penalty which cut the deficit to two points. The final ten minutes saw play see saw between the halves and Tycroes held on to a slender 8-6 interval lead.

Athletic showed their intent to attack and spent much of the first fifteen minutes camped in the Tycroes 22, valiant tackling kept the Red & Blacks at bay until they were able to clear their lines with a relieving penalty kick. The next quarter of an hour saw the Tycroes pack dominate the scrum contest which resulted in a number of successive penalties awarded. From a penalty awarded in the Athletic's 22, Tycroes opted for another scrummage which powerful scrum half Aled James gathered and charged over near the posts. Elgan Griffiths added the extra points to give Tycroes a 15-6 lead.

The next ten minutes saw frantic exchanges of attack & defence for both sides. It was Athletic who stepped up a gear to gain a five metre line out from a penalty. The catch and drive tactic was thwarted on the first occasion but an identical effort from the same spot was this time successful. Prop Carwyn Francis scored a try wide out, stand off Tom Gravell narrowly missed the conversion attempt. The restart was safely gathered by hooker James Newnian but a penalty resulted in a Red & Black player entering a ruck from the side. Elgan Griffiths kicked the simple penalty to extend Tycroes' lead to 18-11. Athletic spent the final five minutes in Rams territory but could not break through a determined defence to get the crucial score equalling try.

The result could have gone either way and perhaps Athletic on the balance of play, should have taken a couple of chances, it wasn't to be and congratulations to Tycroes who now meet the winners of Pontarddulais v Mumbles in the final.

 

 

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