Season 2009-2010
LEAGUE DIVISION FOUR EAST
March 6 2010
PENN UNDERLINES
TILLERY'S SUPERIORITY
Abertillery BG (16) 37 St. Joseph's (11) 11
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Luke Pegler and David Rossiter (6) grapple with
Joes' number 8 at the back of a scrum
The
Green & Whites gained emphatic
revenge for the defeat suffered at Cardiff earlier
in the season and a
last-gasp try by Aled Penn deservedly secured a
bonus point which ensures Tillery are well in the
hunt for promotion.
Aside from an indifferent opening twenty minutes,
Tillery ruled the roost in all phases of play and
the home pack totally destroyed the Joes' eight in
the scrum,
providing a strong platform
throughout and
setting up two home tries early in the
second half that ensured victory.
The visitors started brightly and took an early lead
when pivot, Ritchie Elliott cleverly ghosted his way
over for an unconverted try. Two excellent penalty
kicks by Chris Stevens gave Tillery a narrow edge
but Joes sneaked ahead again as Tillery strayed
offside in midfield.
The home pack started to dominate
especially at the scrum where the front row of Wilkins,
Elliott and Dan Meredith were giving their opposite
numbers a torrid time allowing half-backs Luke Pegler
and Gareth Edwards to dictate play.
Aled Penn and Matthew Burrows nearly
breached the Cardiff side's defensive line with
determined runs before Chris Stevens gathered loose ball
and stepped first off his left and then his right foot
to fix the Joes' midfield and snake his way over from 30
metres for a try he himself converted.
Tillery's Greg Lane was yellow carded
for some indiscipline but a further Stevens penalty
(picture above) extended the lead before the visitors narrowed the gap
just before the interval with a second penalty by
Summers.
H-T: 16
-11
Despite being a man short in the pack, a series of
powerful Tillery scrums close to the Joes' line
shortly after the break had the visitors' pack in
awful trouble and it was no surprise when Lee
Meredith finished off a push-over try (picture
below).
Minutes later, Tillery extended their lead to 19
points as again a surging scrum shunted Joes off
their own ball for Luke Pegler to take advantage and
score another converted try.
The Cardiff side bravely ran what little ball they
had with their livewire scrum-half in particular
desperately trying to pull his side back into
contention. But it was really all one-way traffic
and Joes were fortunate to escape any yellow cards
following a series of transgressions at the
breakdown in their own 22.
As time ticked away, Tillery's play became a little
frayed as they seemed destined not to gain the bonus
point try that their dominance warranted. But with
the last play of the game, they regained their
composure, the dynamo-like Wilkins crashing through
a number of tackles to set up Aled Penn who raced
over from close range for a try converted by Luke
Pegler.
MoM: Chris Wilkins
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Abertillery BG RFC
2009-2010
click for report
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