Fixture

It became clear that the Bears would have their work cut out this week, Caldicot were a quality outfit and it was the home team that grabbed the first score of the game. It didn’t take long for the Bears to bounce back, however, the first try being scored by Lloyd, and what a beauty it was. The Bears attacked with a great, sidestepping run from Hywel, being caught by the Caldicot defence just short of the tryline. The ball then went from Owen to Nathan who sent the defence the wrong way before a long pass out wide to Lloyd, who still had plenty to do. Taking the pass from Nathan at pace, he pirouetted around not one, but two would be defenders before crossing in the corner.

Caldicot then restored their lead with a great attack and a few uncharacteristic first-up tackles missed by the Bears.

It was end-to-end from then on, try two for the Bears coming from Owen. Picking the ball up off some great handling, Owen straightened up nicely to outstrip the Caldicot defence.

Caldicot scored again before the Bears third try, which was scored by Luke. It was started by Owen,  seemingly involved in everything today, who worked a textbook switch with Luke, taking a great angle and waltzing through the gap left by Caldicot to straighten up and run in for the try.

Caldicot went in front again before try four, Sam Colwill getting in on the act. Sam took the ball as first receiver from a lay back with a lovely turn of pace, bursting through a couple of tackles to cross to make the score 4-4.

Caldicot then scored right on the halftime whistle to go into the break one score ahead.

The second half continued where the first half left off. Both teams were playing at a breakneck pace in difficult conditions, the cold weather making accurate passing a real challenge.

Caldicot got their noses further in front before Owen scored try number five. He took the ball as first receiver bursting through the gap to score his second try of the game.

Try as they might, the Bears just could not get parity, with Caldicot extending their lead. The Bears did have one last trick up their sleeve, with Luke crossing for his second and the Bears’ try sixth try of the game and this one was the pick of the bunch. Nothing seemed on when Luke got the ball but, after a spellbinding, zig-zagging break sending the defence one way then the other, he showed a great burst of speed to break through the last line of defence to score a great try.

The last score of the game went to the home team who grabbed a further try right on the stroke of full time.

To summarise, a tough day at the office for the boys today, coming up just short against quality opposition. That said, however, as we have come to expect, they all played their hearts out, they just couldn’t find that little bit extra to get their noses in front. As the saying goes, “You can’t win ‘em all”.

Man of the Match

This week’s award goes to Owen Murrow. Owen was simply outstanding today in all aspects of the game. His running was sublime as always and this, along with his fearless tackling and distribution meant he really stood out from the crowd. His two tries were just reward for the hard work he put in today.