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30 October 2017 / Club News

Match Report Tongwynlais Sat 28th october

Report- Forgeside v Tongwynlais- 28/10/2017
 
This weekend Forgeside travelled down the M4 to Tongwylais under the shadows of castle coch for the clubs first friendly of the clubs revised season. Unfortunately, 3 players let Forge down on the morning and the club travelled with 14. Credit to Tongwynlais who, despite having 15 players available, matched numbers as pre-agreed so the game was played 14 aside. Thank you to the WRU for the “Game On” initiative. 
 
For the first five minutes both sides played a little conservatively as they got the measure of each other. The game soon opened up as both sides looked to attack from all areas of the field and it was only a matter of time before the first points were scored. Tong struck first after 10 minutes when the ball was neatly put through the hands and their number 8 crashed over the line in the corner for an unconverted try. Forgeside responded with a period of possession and territory recycling the ball through several phases which lead to barnstorming prop Connor Griffiths, the clubs leading try scorer, stretching over for a try. The conversion was missed leaving the scores level. The game continued with plenty of ambition from both sides, Forgeside created a few opportunities but never really threatened the opposition try line. Tongwynlais used the slope and wind to good effect turning the Forge defence at every opportunity, dominating territory and came close to scoring on a few occasions. It was only committed cover defence from full back Matt Meredith and centre Simon Davies that prevented Tong scoring on a number of occasions. Five minutes before half time Tong struck again when their livewire scrum half scored down the blind side from an attacking scrum close to the line.
 
The second half started well for Forge with the wind and slope now in their favour. The ball finally found its way into the hands of swivel hips Swinny, who proved that Forge should have made better use of his elusive running in the first half, making several line breaks and putting Forge on the front foot. 10 minutes into the second half Forge scored their second try of the game from an attacking scrum, Number 8 Craig Phillips picked the ball from the base and sent a well timed passed to scrum half Rob Livings who beat the covering defence to score and draw the sides level once more. Again, the conversion was sent wide. Forge dominated the game for the next 30 minutes almost scoring an early contender for try of the season starting inside their own 22 the ball was passed through multiple hands only to be dropped inside the opposition 22. Forge counter attacked well through wing Gareth Baxter and Matt Meredith to keep the pressure on Tong. Forge’s forwards lead by Craig Phillips carried hard and cause the defence serious trouble with Bradley Davies working hard around the field. A few minutes later Forge crossed the line only to lose possession before grounding the ball. With 10 minutes remaining hooker Leighton left the field due to an injury (get well soon) reducing Forge to 13 men. With the penalty count racking up Forge were awarded a kickable penalty in front of the posts, but much to the dismay of captain Dan Fieldhouse, the ball was run and again possession lost near the line. Credit must also be given to Tong’s stern defence which was led by the tall balding man who played multiple positions in the back line during the game (sorry, I don’t know who you are).  As time wore on it seemed as if neither side were destined to score again. Then 1 minute from time and against the run of play another loose Forge offload was intercepted by one of Tongs strong running centres who galloped in under the posts unopposed, the easy conversion was kicked making the score 17-10 to Tong with 1 minute remaining. Tong knocked-on from the restart giving Forge one last chance, however yet another handling error saw Forge knock the ball on and the final whistle was blown. Forge’s second half was characterised by their own errors as they created many opportunities but failed to keep hold of possession, losing the ball in contact far too often and trying to off-load the ball unnecessarily. Ultimately Tong deserved their win for their defensive effort and willingness to counter from Forge’s mistakes. This was a keenly contested game played in good spirits. Forge wish Tongwynlais all the best for the rest of the season and look forward to the return fixture.
 
Man of the match was a toss-up between Bradley Davies, who has made the Forge 7 shirt his own, and prop Connor Griffiths for his strong carries and defence work. As their performances were too close to call we will award Veteran hooker John Walby man of the match, he turned up as an emergency sub but ended up playing a full eight minutes starting on the flank and finishing at hooker. 
 
Also thanks to Bunna for being water boy, as you can image the boys spent most of the game thirsty. To his credit he was also acting in the capacities of- coach, physio, manager and traveling support. Finally, thanks to club debutants Corey “Tank” Williams who acquitted himself well against Tongs former Blackwood bruiser and Ben Wakely who made his senior rugby debut and showed much promise.
 
 
 
 
 
 

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