Fixture

Match report - Caerphilly v Ebbw Vale - Final Score 34-7 - KO 12.30

Written By – Warren Lewis

It was the first round of the Plate Competition this afternoon as the Cheesemen welcomed the Ebbw Vale Steelers to the Gwyndy 4G pitch. It was a bitterly cold and overcast afternoon and it was clear from the early exchanges that the teams were evenly matched and great tackling from both teams cancelled each other out in the first quarter.

Eli Weekes, Scott Pritchard, Ioan Hill and Callum Morris showed strongly in the early exchanges. A strong rip from Eli Weekes was to create the first opportunity of the match, with Abhishek taking the ball up strongly to release Scott Pritchard who fed the ball to Ellis Hughes to make ground into the Steelers 22. 

The ebb and flow of the match continued, with Scott Pritchard and Abhishek making some good ground to suck in the visitors defence. This created space for Owen Hughes and Louis Bellamy to show nice hands and release Connor Mayo on the wing for the game's first score. 

This clearly created some momentum for the home team and the second try followed shortly thereafter. A brilliant pick up by Scott Pritchard saw him make a determined run through the opposition to score from halfway - at all times though the supporting team mates had kept the defence guessing and helped create the try. 

It was great see the real team effort today across the team and this time a nice pass from the ruck by Lewis Adams, then saw Will Haley make a deft chip which was quickly followed up on by Louis Bellamy and then Owen Hughes who pounced on the loose ball to score.

This was quickly followed by another team try, this time finished off by Eli Weekes to take the score to 20 - 0.

However, the Steelers were not finished and quickly responded with a brilliant individual try from their number 12 who chipped over the blitz defence and gathered the ball to score under the posts - half time 20-7.

The outstanding team effort continued in the second half with Eli Weekes and Oliver Scarfe putting in great tackles to create a maul and win a turnover.

Good pressure eventually pushed Ebbw Vale back and in fairness they looked to keep the ball alive and run from their own line - however the quick-thinking Connor Mayo took a lovely interception opportunity to score under the posts 27 -7.

The rest of the second half was spent largely on the Caerphilly line with tackle after tackle stopping their big runners crossing the whitewash. A great tackle on the line on their tall number 16 by Ellis Hughes as one example created a turnover. Wil Lewis tackled their big number 8 from a scrum 5 to save another certain try. In open play Abhishek put in a crunching tackle on the wing to close down yet another attack. It was an outstanding effort across the team.

The final score of the game was however to come from the home team who eventually made it back into the Ebbw Vale half with 10 minutes to go. The score exemplified the outstanding team display with wonderful interplay between backs and forwards releasing Abhishek to crash through to an inch short of the line. From the resultant scrum Scott Pritchard picked up to score using a nice sidestep to evade the determined defence. 

Well done to both teams for an outstanding game of rugby played in good spirits - Ebbw Vale kept going to the end and it was only one of the best performances of the season from across the whole team that secured the victory - well done all #togetherasone