Coaches pleased with first run out
Wanderers 7
Bridgend 26
“Pleased with the run out” commented Martyn Fowler “Against strong Premiership opposition we were understandably going to be starved of possession but we worked hard defensively and made them work for their points. We look fitter than we were and the youngsters are maturing all the time”
After both teams had spent the summer training in glorious sunshine the alien elements of constant rain effected both sides performance. The result was a lot of handling errors caused by rustiness and a wet ball. That meant lots of set piece play and as one would expect the premiership outfit dominated the scrummage and therefore possession. The Wanderers were forced into long periods of defence but their systems held up well and they made Bridgend work hard for the full 80 minutes. A neat scrum half break from the visitors set up the first try out wide but the Wanderers responded well and after a good driving maul and a quick penalty tap, Tom Penri Ellis scored for the home side. Bridgend went ahead on the break of half time when one of the many scrum penalties resulted in a penalty try and the sides went into the break at 7-12.
With the second half continuing in torrential rain and both sides using up their squads the game lacked real cohesion (as one expects at this time of year). Bridgend continued to dominate possession and the young Wanderers backs had little chance to show their ability in attack. 2 more tries in the second half confirmed the Bridgend dominance and the crowd were pleased to hear the final whistle to allow them the respite of the warm bar where rumours that a certain Bridgend head coach was buying the beer didn’t materialise!
Next week the Wanderers travel to Caerphilly (2-30pm) for their second warm up game and look out for the “meet the new boys” post on the website in the week.