Bryn Meredith Cup Semi-Final AND WRU Division 5 East
Pontllanfraith 12 CRUMLIN 53
This game was a double header and as such victory for the MIGHTY CRUM propelled them into another Cup Final and strengthened the push for the league title as they moved up from 3rd to 2nd .
The Bryn Meredith Cup Final will be against Hollybush at Blackwood RFC on Saturday 13th May (just 2 weeks time). In the league Bettws are 5 points in front but Crumlin have a game in hand.
The huge availability issues at Bettws 2 weeks ago were eased considerably as Kiaran Lewis and Kyle Watson returned in the pack and in the backs only Scott Barnes retained his jersey although ever youthful winger Corey Strickland, who had covered 9 last time out now moved to 10 where he was also more than comfortable. Morgan Smith returned to 12, Taylor Smith was on the right wing and Daf Clissett made his 2nd appearance on the wing. Steele Jones came in at full back to celebrate his 25th birthday. Ryan Lewis and Dylan Foxwell were the finishing backs and the forward finishers were Chris Pearce and then Youth players Efan Passmore and Connor Lloyd. Connors twin brother Aaran was starting at 7 as the 3rd youth player in the squad. It remained to be seen if as with their previous appearance the twins would swap over on the pitch at half time. These 3 youth players meant that 10 of the squad were under 23s today.
For the first game this season Captain Ethan Chess was unavailable otherwise more than half the squad would have been under 23. Chess’ absence was indeed a big concern before kick off but with the strength of this squad the 10 jersey was as always the player who bossed the game and lead from the front. Corey Strickland typified everything that was good about this season as he quite simply ran the game in as Man of The Match performance. In fact the leadership baton was picked up by Kyle Walton who gave an outstanding Captains performance with time after time breaks and bursts that sent Pontllanfraith literally reeling backwards.
As usual the front row of Spence, Spanky and Dan laid the foundation by taking their opponents apart. Within 10 minutes Pont had a scrum on the 22 and the pack pressure allowed Cole Jones at scrum half to tackle his opposite number then jump to his feet before mugging him of the ball, side stepping 2 and going under the posts. Scott Barnes converted.
CRUMLIN 7 Pontllafraith 0
That first 10 had looked ominous but Pont weren’t going to fold and came back with a try.
CRUMLIN 7 Pontllanfraith 5
Crumlin struggled with interpreting the rules and gave away far too many penalties, which meant whilst they were comfortable in defence they could not get out of their half till the last 10 minutes before the break. At that point Strickland had had enough and decided to let his young backline run. Fullback Steele Jones joined the backline and on half way his superb draw and give took out 2 defenders and set Taylor Smith flying. Credit to the covering defence they caught Taylor within yards of the line but the support was there and Kiaran Lewis smashed over in the corner.
CRUMLIN 12 Pontllanfraith 5
This was the first of a 7 minute blitz by Crumlin that also saw first Scott Barnes and then Steele Jones cross for a bonus point before the break.
Halftime:
CRUMLIN 22 Pontllanfraith 5
Connor Lloyd replaced his brother almost unnoticed (identical twins) and Ryan Lewis came on in his first senior outing at full back. Steele Jones took over from Cole Jones at 9 and in the beautiful sunshine the blitz could have been forgiven for cooling off. Strickland had other ideas and took every opportunity to set his young charges free. Less than 5 minutes in and with his second touch Lewis crossed.
CRUMLIN 27 Pontllanfraith 5
Dan Lewis came off and 18 year old Efan Passmore made his senior rugby debut in the front row. Wow what a debut as Efan was absolutely rock solid at scrum time and carried and tackled superbly. Indeed the only scrum that even moved slightly in the wrong direction came as his boot fell apart leaving him trying to scrummage in his socks! Shortly after Pont went over from a scrum and there was still a nagging feeling. Could there be a come back – NO was the resounding answer.
CRUMLIN 27 Pontllanfraith 12
Dylan Foxwell came on to replace Clissett on the wing and Chris Pearce was on in the boiler house for the excellent Gethin Hockey. Foxwell’s first touch almost lead to a try but his second touch did.
CRUMLIN 32 Pontllanfraith 12
Crumlin were now unstoppable. Barnes went over and converted it.
CRUMLIN 39 Pontllanfraith 12
Strickland joined in as he spotted the fullback wasn’t at home, chipped over from 50 metres, and collected to score. Barnes converted this one too.
CRUMLIN 46 Pontllanfraith 12
Right at the end Foxwell got his second to give him 80 points for the season and Barnes converted for a personal total of 18 in the match which also took him through 80 points for the season.
CRUMLIN 53 Pontllanfraith 12
On Coronation Saturday next week Crumlin welcome Bettws to the Kay Field in a hugely anticipated game which could well decide the destiny of this year’s League title.
The remaining games for this season are:
Saturday 13th May - Bryn Meredith Cup Final against Hollybush at Blackwood RFC
Tuesday 16th May – League match at Hollybush
Saturday 20th May – final league match against Brynithel at the Kay Field
As always your support for these games will be greatly appreciated.
#UPPACRUM
SQUAD
1. Gavin Spencer
2. Jacob Morgan-Hill
3. Daniel Lewis
4. Kiaran Lewis
5. Gethyn Hockey
6. Tyler Madden-Smith
7. Aaran Lloyd
8. Kyle Walton (Captain)
9. Cole Jones
10. Corey Strickland
11. Taylor Smith
12. Morgan Smith
13. Scott Barnes
14. Dafydd Clissett
15. Steele Jones
16. Efan Passmore
17. Chris Pearce
18. Connor Lloyd
19. Ryan Lewis
20. Dylan Foxwell
Travelling Reserves
George Price
Morgan Wilson
Blake Madden-Smith
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