Fixture

Caernarfon RFC | 1st Team 16 - 20 Bro Ffestiniog RFC | 1st Team

Match Report
24 September 2017 / Team News

Caernarfon 16 - Bro Ffestiniog 20

 

The Caernarfon faithful would I'm sure wish to claim that this game was there for the taking but Bro fully deserved their victory, scoring three tries to one and defending stoically during the final quarter when the Cofis finally presented a more concerted challenge.

The opening salvos were all fired by the men in green with a lengthy Huw James touch finder bringing them into the danger zone. The clean lineout take and drive resulted in the opening try when captain and hooker Thomas James surfaced from the melee beyond the try line with ball in hand. Caernarfon themselves found the scoreboard ticking over in their favour within the next few minutes when an offside call allowed stand off Aled Jones to slot over a penalty. Indeed his clever chip some ten minutes later caused the confusion that led to a scrum infringement, thus granting him the opportunity to successfully double the Cofi points tally.

Bro bounced back, with an out of tackle wriggle by Mark Morris taking him clear only to be thwarted by another fine cover tackle by Elis Roberts meters from the try line. However assistance arrived from an off side angle allowing Huw James to restore Bro's lead from the tee. There followed a promising Caernarfon move that was snuffed out by a good steal by flanker Dylan Daniels before fellow back row player Huw Parry supported his stand off's clear break to accept the final pass and run in and score between the sticks. Huw James brushed himself down to add the conversion and give Bro a nine point lead.

The Cofis knew that they had to up their game if to claw their way back and this they did when a crisp backline move with loop, lead to wing Dylan Gwyn having enough pace to round the defence and score. Aled Jones's conversion brought the Cofis back to within two points. However the lessons of the opening minutes were not learnt and when the under pressure scrum yielded a penalty it afforded Bro another lineout within striking distance.. On this occasion it was prop Dylan Jones who had been prominent throughout that added his weight to the forward drive and crashed over on the stroke of half time to give Bro a seven point cushion.

Injuries to Caernarfon props led to uncontested scrums during the second forty with Bro dominating possession and territory for all of the third quarter but failing to find the telling pass that would have established a probable unassailable lead. On the rare occasions that the Cofis  succeeded to break out of defence their unwarranted indiscretions infuriated the coaches, since rare forward momentum was lost far too easily. Thankfully wing Dylan Gwyn posed a threat whenever the ball was in his possession and one break with fullback Elis Roberts in support led to the Cofis regaining the required confidence to attempt a comeback. Things improved further when Aled Jones again converted a penalty for offside to reduce the gap to four and he also rifled a clearance some seventy meters downfield to set the Cofis up for a possible grandstand finish. A steal by substitute Robat Griffiths led to a fine Iolo Hughes break but the cover again arrived just in time. Other charges from the likes of Ilan Davies were dealt with competently by the Bro rearguard that was well marshalled by Number eight and stalwart Dewi James.  

As the minutes ticked by  the Cofis grew increasingly impatient and probably took the ball into contact more than required, thus playing into Bro's hands and therefore enabling them to record a fully deserved victory.

The Clubhouse's Macmillan Coffee Morning was well received and supported by players and supporters of  both clubs, enabling nearly £350 to be raised for this most noble cause.

  

 

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