Abertillery bounced back impressively from last
week's disappointing defeat to dominate and
deservedly down Pontypool United's colours at The
Park, a result that sets up a relegation showdown
with Newport HSOB at The Park.
The young home side played with great pride, grit
and determination throughout with the pack getting
the better of their opponents in all phases
providing a great platform for the backs and they
will look to carry on in similar vein come
Thursday
evening.
The home side started well with Miles showing his
skill as he swept through the United ranks forcing
an early penalty which Chris Stevens was unable to
land. The visitors showed they also had élan behind
the scrum and were unlucky that an attack was
thwarted by the merest of forward passes. But they
still managed to open the scoring as West kicked a
penalty as Tillery strayed offside.
An Andrew Mason break put Tillery back on the
offensive and Luke Pegler harried well at a scrum to
earn a penalty that Stevens slotted to level the
scores. Gareth Collier and Craig Meredith then made
big bursts into the visitors territory and it was
Meredith who controlled the ball superbly well at
the back of a scrum as Tillery shunted their
opponents back 10 metres over the line for a
touchdown that Stevens converted.
Disappointingly Tillery were unable to retain their
lead for very long as almost immediately from the
restart United retaliated with centre Thorley
showing a deft sleight of hand to go over for a
converted try to make it 10-all.
H-T: 10-10
The start of the second half was punctuated with a
plethora of injuries to players from both sides and
despite Tillery enjoying the lion's share of
territory and possession, they were unable to create
and maintain momentum as a result.
Eventually Tillery did regain the lead their
dominance fully warranted as Stevens kicked a
straightforward penalty and then repeated the act
minutes later.
United managed to pull back with a second successful
penalty by West before Stevens reopened a six point
gap with a well judged kick. Tillery had several
chances to settle matters but they were unable to
make the most of the ball they enjoyed.
As a long period of injury time ensued, the nerves
started to jitter a bit but with Craig Meredith and
Greg Lane magnificent on occasion, the ship was
steadied and the yellow card of the United hooker
helped although it took a great cover tackle by Penn
to see out the win.
Abertillery scorer: Craig Meredith (try),Chris Stevens
(3 pens, conversion)
Website Abertillery man of the match
- Craig Meredith