Year 11 bow out of the cup.
Gowerton’s forwards power towards Gwyr’s try line.
Bl11 Gwyr: 36 Bl11 Tregwyr:20.
Gwyr yr 11: 36 Gowerton yr 11:20.
Digonedd o ymdrech ac ymroddiadond methutaro’rnod.
Effort and determination aplenty are not quite enough.
Gwyr hosted neighbours Gowerton in the quarter finals of the Swansea schools cup.
Gowerton held the advantage up front where there forwards well led by captain Richard Keefe dominated the lineouts with flanker Sam Winrow the major presence and in the scrums the front row of Dylan Treharne, Marcus Besley and Keefe made up for their small stature with their technical excellence that saw them gain the upper hand.
Gowerton’s front row made up for their small stature with their technical excellence.
The loose exchanges were evenly contested despite an energetic performance from Gowerton’s man of the match No.8 Joel Young.
Behind the scrum, it was the hosts who held a clear advantage with the angles of running of Gwyr’s midfield quartet of fly half James Davies, centres Rhodri Wall and Rhys Gealy and full back Tom Neale creating plenty of opportunities that they had the pace to finish off.
Gwyr took the lead in the 6th minute when a well constructed move saw centre Gealy slice through the visitors’ defensive line to score a try converted by fly half Davies. Gowerton bounced back when fly half Mathew Protheroe kicked a penalty for offside in the 11th minute, but the hosts’ backs continued to look dangerous whenever they were in possession and Davies added a penalty in the 23rd minute and then on the half hour converted a try scored by full back Neal after a Gowerton attack broke down in the visitors’ 22 and they ran back to score an excellent counter attacking try.
However, the visitors weren’t prepared to go out of the competition meekly and a break by fly half Protheroe took him into the Gwyr 22 and when he was tackled short of the line No.8 Young was on hand to pick up and drive over.
There was still time for fly half Davies to score a try on the stroke of half time and his conversion gave the hosts a comfortable 24-8 advantage at the break.
In the second half, Gowerton’s driving lineout began to exert pressure on the hosts and good work by flanker Kieryn Lewis saw him halted just short of the line. This time hooker Besley was on hand to pick up and power over.
Gwyr added two further tries by Davies and Neale and Davies converted the first to take his personal tally to 21 points. To their credit, Gowerton weren’t going to wilt and they had the final say when a perfectly executed catch and drive at a lineout allowed Besley to cross in the corner and Protheroe added the conversion.
At the final whistle, it was the hosts who deservedly progressed to the semi final where they will play the winners of the Bishop Vaughan and Morriston tie.
