GWERNYFED RFC YOUTH 26 TREORCHY RFC YOUTH 19

Gwernyfed RFC Youth welcomed previously unbeaten opponents Treorchy Youth to Trefecca Road for a hastily arranged friendly fixture on Saturday.

A large crowd had gathered in anticipation to see some attacking rugby and were not to be disappointed.

Gwernyfed were slow to get out of the blocks and found themselves three ties to nil down within the first 15 minutes against a very well organised Treorchy side, and it was obvious to all watching that Gwernyfed were in for a tough afternoon.

The visitors were camped on the Gwernyfed line for long periods in the 1st half , but were unable to add to their points tally due to some superb defence from the young green, black and whites.

Towards the end of the 1st half Gwernyfed started to gain in confidence and starting to show glimpses of the form that they have showed all season and scored an excellent try through No 8 Dan Draper and with Andrew Barrell adding the conversion, they went into half-time 19-7 down.

The 2nd half was a reversal of the 1st period with Gwernyfed now getting the upper hand on their illustrious Rhondda opponents and stringing together some excellent phases of play whilst also knocking back any attacks from Treorchy with superb defending.

Gwernyfed crossed for their 2nd try of the afternoon within a couple of minutes of the restart with wing Tom Pugh, making a welcome return to youth rugby, crossing over in the corner after Gwernyfed had turned over Treorchy possession on the halfway line and great interplay between forward and backs allowing Tom the space to finish off in style. Andrew Barrell added the 2 points from wide out to make the scoreline 19-14 to Treorchy.

The green, black and whites were now dominating the forward exchanges, even when they were down to 14 men, and this allowed the backs space and time to cross the gain line and it just seemed like a matter of time before Gwernyfed would score again.

This they did halfway through the 2nd period with a series of forward drives close to the Treorchy tryline, with flanker Lewys Rees spotting a gap in the opposition defence and darting over under the posts, the conversion was again successful which meant that Gwernyfed had now taken the lead for the first time in the game.

The Rhondda outfit, not used to being behind, were now starting to lose their discipline, and giving away penalties. One such penalty resulted in Gwernyfed having a lineout close to the Treorchy tryline and were able to use their excellent rolling maul to take play close to the whitewash, and it was the ever alert Lewys Rees who crossed again. The conversion was missed, so the scoreline now read 26-19 to the hosts, which looked very unlikely earlier on.

The young green, black and whites were now playing some of their best rugby of the season and were very unlucky not to score again.

This was very much a squad performance and will stand them in great stead when they return to league action.