As the regular scribe had sacrificed full blooded hard fought amateur rugby to prostitute himself for a few free ciders and a warm seat , it was left to me toreport on today's outing.
With warriors missing for various reasons, the back 5 was somewhat reshuffled seeing Bailey at 6 , Harris at 8 and Adam , recovered from his achy shoulder with 7 on his back joined by Brakey 2 and Evan Macey in the Row.
With this quite large pack, added to by the genius of Mark Rostron at 1, probably the best all round front rower ever to pull on a green and black shirt,nathan at 2 and Granty at 3, it seemed like we would have a glut of ball for our classy backs to play with.
However, with the 1st KO spilled, Ynys were immediately in the ascendancy and showed their intent by refusing a pen for a scrum under the sticks. Huge D from the good guys saw a few attacks thwarted but finally a pen was given and 0-3.
5 mins later and it was 0-6 after a similar run of play and the local know it all fans were concerned that not only had the home team not strayed into Ynys territory ,but had only won 1 line-out out of half a dozen, been shunted in the scrum and barely touched the ball.
However, this side has more, and a quickly run pen saw a glorious overlap created but sadly Burgey's pass hit Bailey and then the deck,
In the mean time, 2 dust ups in the tackle zone with Dave Brake in the fore front, saw a warning for the skippers, and when Achy Brakey 8, funnily enough wearing 7 today, stuck up for his Bro, he was shown the yellow along with the very influential Ynys no 4 .A 3 pointer from the ever cool Tichy at FB closed the deficit to 3-6,but
more dominance from the visitors led to a pen and 3-9. Wew all thought that was it for the 1st 40 but the ref had one more play and after an infringement from the KO a quick tap saw the home backs on the move and a lovely pass from Morgan saw skipper Macey hit a wonderful line and pile into the 22. Lovely hands back inside o Burgey and towards the sticks for the try? No , fantastic tackling saw Burgey to ground, the ball clear, but as it was pulled in by the tackler on the deck, a pen for the home side, coolly slotted by Tichy for 6-9 HT.
Amazingly we were only 3 adrift after really being out gunned all half.
2nd half and it's all changed. Caerleon came out with a new attitude. The first 10 mins were spent on or about the halfway line,but the home side had upped the tempo and suddenly the Ynys side looked at 6s and 7s.. With Burgy off after that bump at end of the half, veteran club talisman Eggy joined the fray at 9, with Tom moving to centre and Joe Mac onto the wing.
The home side looking more assured now, and another cool 3 pointer fromTichy levelled the scores , and finally some lineout pressure saw the visitors first error , and an overthrown effort from their hooker saw a lovely offload from Brakey jnr , sending the attack deep into the Ynys 22. A snap effort of the drop from Westy drifted wide, but the ref wasn't happy and not only brought the play back for a pen, but sent the Ynys 9 to the bin.Tichy cool again and 12-9, Caerleon ahead.
Changes now , and young Chris Dodds on for Nathan,and with the home back row looking jaded, after huge defensive efforts, surely change needed there too?
Another quick movement of the ball to the left saw Tom Richards screaming out of defence .He gained 50 + yards and when the ball was recycled quickly a sure try was on to the right, but woeful passing saw 4 pairs of hands missed and the ball sail harmlessly
to the bank.
However , the home side now had a big foot in the Ynys territory and the opposition were flagging and flailing. A fabulous pass from Morgan created space out left, and the ball in John Burgy's mitt saw him evade 2 flying defenders to squeeze in at the corner for a fantastic finish and 17-9.
With 12 on the clock, Josh blister boy replaced Granty, and Lloyd West, the sole true Helmet on the bench replaced Richie.
There was a mess of a line-out, Ynys came up with it, but huge D with Adam Brake to the fore and Westy making an immediate impact forcing the knock on, and a chopsy valley upstart gave the good guys a chance to clear..
Again, poor home line-out, leading to Ynys scrum, and a beautifully executed scrum move saw a 2-1 and a lovely dummy saw the visitors over and 17-14. Nervy jingly time. 8 on the clock, 3 points the diff after con missed.
Caerleon, never to lie back went full tilt onto the KO and after some ferocious attacking defence, a visiting defender failed to roll and it was another kick at goal , coolly slotted by Tichy and 20-14.
Time was ticking away, but Ynys wren't ready to give up their top spot without a fight. Kick to the corner, but huge D saw a knock on, but then as the home team retreated in the scrum, a fabulous pick up at 8 from Achy saw the ball won and an absolute gem of a touch finder from Morgan from the depth of his dead ball area surely won the spoils?
No, still time on the clock, but although Caerleon forced the knock on at line-out time, Ynys asserted pressure and won the scrum against the head. They swarmed right then left,and Joe Mac was forced into conceding the pen and a yellow. Last go for Ynys, and kick to the corner.
Super line-out from them again, but the home pack piled in again in a super committed defence. No idea what happened, but seeing the club skipper leaping in the air under the sticks gave us an idea it was going our way. Sure enough, Ynys knock on home kick out and all over!! 20-14.
Wow. what a game. 2 sides going hammer and tongs at each other. Tempers just overspilled on times, but this really was a great watch for all rugby fans.
Physical, committed and that huge will to win. Ynys were superb, should have been way ahead at HT. Caerleon spurred into action in the 2nd period took a hold on the game and eventually withstood a final onslaught to come away with a hard earned win. Great advert for div 3 rugby. well done to all involved from both sides.
I have to try to pick an MOM from that, but I'm bottling and sharing it. Forwards, David Brake for his all round old fashioned 2nd row effort I'd quite happily put my name to, Tichy for his sheer coolness under high ball, counter attack and of course slotting the 3 pointers.Morgan West , as for me he really came to the races today. I never watch outside halves cos they are what they are. I did today, and saw the sh** they tried to give him. Loads of stuff after the ball, before the ball and he still ran the game perfectly with a big load of baldocks.Finally, the 4th joint MOM for me goes to Adam, Achy Breaky Eighty, but Seveny today. Huge effort again. So many tackles and so many carries making the hard yards. Well deserved all of you, and I'm sure everyone wishes Adam all the very best for next week when you lead out the Wales Deaf National side. Good luck fella.
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