1st XV v Penygroes

After a month of inactivity, Fishguard returned to action with a comfortable win over fourth place Penygroes.

It had been a difficult week for the Seagulls with a number of players unavailable due to injury and unavailability. As a result a number of players were forced to play out of position, including Romeo and Mark James, two front row forwards playing in the back row, and scrum half Gareth Owen playing on the wing.

Despite the difficulties Fishguard put in a good, solid performance against a tough Penygroes side.

Fishguard started the game well with Tomas catching the kick off, breaking a tackle and then running a full 60 yards before being hauled down just short of the line.

This was the start of things to come.

With only 5 minutes gone another good attack involving forwards and backs led to a penalty on the Penygroes 22. Huw duly converted to give Fishguard the lead.

Fishguard continued to attack in waves with some good handling allowing Matthew George, Matthew Reynolds and Rhodri to make ground.

The forwards were also on top of their game. Totally dominant in the scrum and strong at the ruck, they allowed Alun George, who again had a very good game at scrum half, to release his backs with quality ball.

The second try was not long coming and it fell to wing Matthew George who followed up a cross kick from Huw, to re-gather the ball and run to the corner beating two defenders on the way.

The try went unconverted but Huw soon made amends when he converted another penalty after Penygroes had infringed at a ruck, following a break by Huw and Mark Lennard.

The 11-0 lead was no more than the Seagulls deserved for a powerfull start to the game.

For the last 10 minutes of the first half, Penygroes had their best period of the half as they pressed in the Fishguard 22.

After a period of strong defence from the Seagulls, they were eventually penalised in front of their posts. The penalty was converted to make the half-time score 11-3.

The second half started in similar fashion to the first.

Rhodri, outstanding at full back, entered the line at pace from a set move and appeared destined for a try only to be hauled down just short of the line. Some good defence kept the following attack out on that occassion but from the resultant scrum, Fishguard got their second try.

On the first two occassions the pack destroyed the Penygroes scrum pushing them over the line at ease only for the Penygroes scrum to dis-engage. It was as blatant a penalty try as one is likely to see but instead the referee decided to reset the scrum.

On the third time of asking, the pack again delivered, and with Romeo's excellent control at No 8, the try was eventually awarded with Raff finishing off. A deserved try for the whole pack.

Huw missed the conversion.

There was a stale period in the middle of the second half where the referee blew for numerous alleged infringements at the ruck. This tended to slow the game down, which certainly suited Penygroes as they were struggling with the pace of the Fishguard game.

As Penygroes pressed to get back into the game, an error in midfield allowed the ball to run loose. Deep inside his own 22, Mark Lennard mopped up the ball before transferring it to Matthew George via Matthew Reynolds.

Matthew looked as if he would go all the way but as the cover defence came across he transferred the ball back inside to Reynolds who, in turn, offloaded masterfully inside to Rhodri who ran the remaining 20 yards under the posts for a magnificent try.

Huw converted.

Fishguard pressed for the bonus point try and it almost came with what would have been another cracker. Another backs move sent Rhodri haring into the line. He then gave a short pass to Tomas, now on the wing, who cut a great angle which saw him slice thorugh. Tomas chipped over the top and only the bounce of the ball prevented a try that he deseved for his all round performance.

Penygroes slowed the game down further as they went to non-contested scrums.

This was no suprise after the treatment they had been dealt by the Fishguard pack all afternoon.

The final whistle went with Fishguard comfortable 23-3 winners.

No bonus point but a very pleasing all round performance. A true team effort.

Fishguard's next game is a tough trip to Furnace. However on this showing, the Seagulls have every reason to be confident travelling up to Llanelli.

Team:

15 Rhodri, 14 Gareth Owen (Shaun Bartlett 50) (Richard Hun13 Matthew Reynolds 12 Mark Lennard 11 Matthew George 10 Huw 9 Alun George 8 Romeo 7 Meirion Ladd 6 Mark James (Rhys Griffiths 60) 5 Tomas 4 Gwilym 3 Andy Morrillo 2 Gav Walsh 1 Gerwyn (Big Al 65)