Wanderers woes on the road continue

Mountain Ash 24

Wanderers 22

Mountain Ash 24
Wanderers 22

On a wet day in Mountain Ash there was a slight delay to KO as the rain had caused some puddles that needed forking and the Wanderers were forced into a late lineup change as Rhys Iles pulled up in the warm up and he was replaced by Iestyn Scott. The tone of the game was set early on with a massively dominant visitors scrum on top, but a spirited home side clearly determined to be no pushovers. The set piece provided the first score as a penalty gave the Wanderers a scrum and the pushover was illegally stopped, the referee awarding a penalty try 0-7. Back came the Old Firm from the kick off a poor clearance chase was run back at the visitors. The defence was caught sheltering from the rain and following a kick ahead Mountain Ash levelled it up at 7-7. Handling was clearly going to be a challenge and the scrappy nature of the play seemed to fuel the home side and cause confusion amongst the Wanderers. With their tails starting to rise an attack by the home side was thwarted by a high tackle and the penalty put them deservedly ahead 10-7. Back and forth went the plays from both sides as the handling errors from both mounted. The Wanderers could not make their scrum dominance really count and with the inevitable lack of lineout ball there was very little to cheer the travelling faithful. Chances did arise when a rarely won lineout allowed the visitors pack to get a drive on but as the ball crossed the line it was spilled allowing the home side to clear. Steff Davies went close near the end of the half following a quickly taken penalty but two subsequent lineouts on the Mountain Ash 5 metre line were lost and the Old Firm gladly cleared their ranks. A late penalty gave the Wanderers a chance to level it up but the shot at goal was short in the conditions and the sides headed for the dry with the Old Firm ahead 10-7.

A rejuvenated Wanderers side began brightly in the second half when a penalty in front of the posts allowed Evan Gregg the chance to level it up at 10-10. With a clear change in tactics and the scrum still dominating the visitors edged ahead. As a scrum went forward Number 8
Nathan Williams picked up and he fed Steff Davies. Still with a lot of work to do and with plenty of defenders in attendance Davies forced his way to the line and just managed to ground the ball as he slid over. Gregg converted 10-17. It seemed that the visitors were on top and would surge ahead. A break by Gregg, from a kick, was taken deep into the home side 22 and after some forward drives a pass to the invisible centre (on as a sub) was hacked clear by the home side. They raced away and only desperate defence prevented the home side from scoring, showing that given the chance they could be dangerous. Back came the Wanderers and they extended their lead when captain Josh Male went through the defence and he put Ned Bennett in for the visitors 3rd try 10-22. The dark started to descend on the ground and as time seemed to be ebbing away from the home side it looked like the Wanderers would hang on to record a win but there were sill lineouts to be played out. The referee announced four minutes to go and with a 12-point advantage Mountain Ash went in search of a bonus point. A penalty gave them field position and a driving maul gave them their second try, well converted 17-22. It seemed that that would be it but there was still one last twist to the game. Wanderers discipline headed for the changing room early and two penalties set up another lineout deep in Wanderers territory. The simple catch and drive resulted in a penalty try giving the bottom of the table side an unlikely but deserved win showing that heart, determination and team work will often carry you through in adversity. Final score 24-22.

Wanderers Scorers

Tries: Penalty try, Steff Davies, Ned Bennett
Cons: Evan Gregg
Pens: Evan Gregg
Massiv MOM: Finn Davies
Management MOM: Steff Davies / Osian Phillips