Wanderers milk Dairymen to go top
WANDERERS 62
LLANHARAN 5
“Pleased with the result, it leaves us with some serious headaches over selection this week before the Ystrad Rhondda game” commented Martyn Fowler “Mind you there are still things, as coaches, we are not happy about and that means some hard work this week”
On a grey afternoon with no wind the Wanderers were straight out of the blocks Josh Male took the attack to Llanharan out wide as the home side established field position in the Llanharan half. A penalty lead to a lineout in the visitors 22 and from the set piece the Wanderers struck the first blow. Dylan Lawley drove from the lineout and when held up short the ball was recycled blind to Lee Highgate who crashed over to open the scoring 5-0. The Dairymen were struggling to get a foothold in the game and from a scrum deep in Wanderers territory the home side struck again. James Loxton broke downfield and he found Phil Pariyo in support. Pariyo eluded the defenders and raced away to cross under the posts. Luke Fish converted 12-0. Things were to get even worse for Llanharan as the third Wanderers try soon followed. A lineout on the opposition 22 saw Pariyo pop up in midfield and he sliced through the defence. As the cover tacklers came across he stepped nicely and cantered under the posts for his second try. Fish converted 19-0. From the kick off Fish nudged play back into the visitors half and a stolen lineout gave the Wanderers another chance. Rob Lewis drove at the heart of the defence and the ball was recycled wide to Male who crossed for the bonus point try within 16 minutes 24-0. At this point it was the home side making all the play despite Llanharan’s efforts. As often happens when you are up against it luck seems to evade you. From their first decent attack the ball was spilled and it fell into Cameron Gibbon’s hand who needed no invitation as he raced away from halfway to score 29-0. Despite the score-line the Dairymen stuck at their game and they were awarded their first score. Moving the ball left and right they found some space out wide and they crossed for a deserved try 29-5. From the kick off the Wanderers were reduced to 14 men for 10 minutes as Rob Lewis was deemed to have played a catcher in the air. Llanharan picked up their game and for the first time the home side line came under pressure. The visitor’s tried in vain to break the Wanderers down but with the young home side centres marshalling the troops the line remained intact. As the half entered its final minutes the home side resumed their control and once again established play in the Dairymen’s 22. From a scrum against the head Josh Sheehan broke blind. The ball was recycled and Fish made a break. He tried an offload but the ball was slapped back by one of the defenders. The ball rolled into the Llanharan in goal area and Josh Male was the sharpest to react and he pounced on the ball to score the Wanderers sixth try and send the sides into the break at 36-5.
The Wanderers made a change at half time with young Morgan Louch coming on at scrum half and soon afterwards Charlie Johnson and Will Adams Jones entered the fray. The visitors obviously decided that they would not go down with a fight and they started to attack from deep whenever the chance arose. The game see sawed back and forth at a high tempo but neither side could find a telling pass or break to add to the scoring. The visitors’ attacks, at times, became a little frantic and on one occasion a long pass on their own 5 metre line saw a defender take ball and Wanderers prop Lewis at the same time. He was driven back into the in goal area and did really well to keep the ball alive to allow a clearance kick. The home side brought on the rest of the cavalry and eventually the visitors line was breached again. From a lineout Max Wootton broke through the defence and as he was hauled down he fed Tom Penry Ellis who raced over besides the posts. Fish converted 43-5. From the kick off Lawley again carried well making good ground with several defenders in tow and the game was once again being played in the Llanharan half. Pariyo rounded off a fine move to score his third try after Loxton had made a great break out wide and then Loxton was himself was on hand to take a pass from Male as he rounded off another good move to score himself. Fish converted 55-5. The days scoring was finished from the kick off when sub Michael Owen made a good break he found Sheehan on his shoulder and he raced away from the Wanderers 10 metre line. Throwing a couple of dummies and with absolutely no intention of passing to supporting players Sheehan cantered away to outpace the defence whilst looking for the camera to showboat to! Fish converted to make the final score 62-5.
Wanderers scorers:
Tries: Phil Pariyo (3), Josh Male (2), Lee Highgate, James Loxton, Tom Penry Ellis, Cameron Gibbon, Josh Sheehan
Cons: Luke Fish (6)
Massiv man of the match: Dylan Lawley Special Mention: James Loxton