Aberbargoed V Tredegar Ironsides 25/09/16
Aberbargoed welcomed Tredegar Ironsides for their first home game of the season. The first ten minutes saw Ironsides take control with a nice break resulting in a scrum to the visitors, good scrummaging paid dividends with the referee awarding them the first penalty of the game which unfortunately went wide of the posts; this early pressure gave the visitors a second chance and they opted for the lineout, Aberbargoed defended well with a break out from fullback Liam Matthews with some strong running but the ball was knocked on at the ruck. Aberbargoed made good work on the visitor’s scrum which they won, and good hands by the home backs put them in a strong position. An Aberbargoed scrum 10 meters off the visitor’s line saw strong scrummaging from the home side leading to a penalty try, which Rhys Hagerty converted, putting the score at 7 - 0 to Aberbargoed. A further penalty from the boot of Rhys Hagerty extended the lead to 10 – 0. Aberbargoed were now in control of the game and one more penalty from Rhys Hagerty saw the lead extended to 13 – 0. Aberbargoed moved the ball well through the back line leading to a strong run by number 8 Lee Hagerty who fed the ball onto centre Jason Prosser, Prosser drew his man then passed it to Liam Matthews who in turn passed it to Rhys Edwards who outpaced his opposite number and scored a well worked try. The score board was now reading 18 - 0 with the conversation to come, of which there was little doubt considering the way the Aberbargoed ten was kicking 20-0. Credit must be given to Tredegar Ironsides who worked hard, with what seemed, their best weapon their driving maul, which they used effectively, bringing down Aberbargoed's flanker Geriant Edwards who received a yellow card. The last 6 minutes of the first half saw Tredegar on the attack, good defence from Aberbargoed allowed them hold onto the lead, halftime score 20 – 0.
The second half started the way the first half ended with Ironsides dominating the game, with sustained pressure Ironsides scored their first points 20-7. Aberbargoed were struggling to get out of their own half Tredegar kept knocking on the door and would have scored more but for excellent defence shown by the home side. Finally, Tredegar were awarded a penalty for all their hard work and the points began mounting, 20-10. Game on and another yellow card was issued to Huw Meyrick, Aberbargoed were down to 14 players again, Ironsides capitalised on this and their centre, hit an excellent angle to score a well-deserved try, the conversation just missed putting the score at 20-15. Aberbargoed decided to make some changes which saw scrum half Alex hope being replaced with Dean Higgs and young Karl Adams with veteran prop Richard Tudball in a bid to add experience and cool head to proceedings. The replacements continued with Tom James at 10 and Adam Chamberlain to replace the yellow card and club captain Nicky Thomas. Back to full strength Aberbargoed broke out against the run of play of the second half, good field position saw scrum half Higgs break though with good support play by Richard Tudball going over to score a try. Tom James added the 2 points 27-15. Aberbargoed finished strong with a penalty; they went for the corner and tried for the bonus point win but the ball was knocked on and the referee blew for the end of the game; a good win for the squad and a good performance from man of the match for the second week running, Liam Matthews.
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