Rhyl 1st 15 pts, Welshpool 22 pts
Keith
closely fought match at the Waen on Saturday. Having soaked up some
early pressure from the visitors with solid defensive work from the
whole team, a turnover saw Dafydd John release Shakcks Mtkozisi. The
centre's explosive and silky running got him to within a metre of the
tryline before being brought down but good support work from hooker
Geezer Davies and a superb offload by Shacks gave Rhyl a try and the
lead 5-0. After 20 minutes Rhyl suffered once again with their Achilles
heel, when Welshpool drove the Rhyl eight backwards at a scrum for a
pushover try, which was converted to take the lead at 7-5.
This score rocked Rhyl's confidence and worse was to follow from the
kick off as Welshpool caught the ball and ran it back at Rhyl. Missed
tackles allowed the visitors an easy try wide out to increase their
lead to 12-5. But with a stiff wind in their faces the Rhyl backs were
determined to keep the ball in hand and on the stroke of halftime
Shacks passed to fellow centre Rob Tilley and the young centre used his
blistering pace to beat the midfield defence before releasing wing
Stewart Fell-Crook into space, allowing him to score in the corner to
make it 12-10 at halftime.
With the wind at their backs in the second half Rhyl should really have
played a kicking game in the second period but the Welshpool pack kept
the ball tight and out of the Dragons' hands and a converted penalty
for the visitors made it 15-10 on 45 minutes. On the hour mark a good
run from John Hall, was followed good support from the forwards with
prop Gaz Eyres making a powerful run. Good hands in the backs gave
Fell-Crook his second try and Rhyl's third to level the game at 15
all.
With time running out Welshpool again kept the ball tight and with
Rhyl's scrum under severe pressure, the scrum collapsed and the
referee opted to award the visitors a penalty try, which was converted
to put Welshpool 22-15 ahead. Shortly after injuries to the Rhyl front
row led to uncontested scrums which gave Rhyl a slight advantage and
better ball to work with but the backs failed to take advantage of this
possession and missed several opportunities in the dying minutes of the
game.
Coach Mike Harper was very disappointed at the end. "We had more than
enough chances to win what was a closely contested game, but in the
second half simply lacked the control and composure to see it
through."
This Saturday the Firsts have a free league date but have provisionally
arranged to play Llandudno at home.