Wednesday 7^th October 2015.

 Nine try 1^st XV impress against Gower College.

 Gower College: 5 Gowerton 1^st XV: 55.

Max Harris, with a little help from his friends, leaps high to secure lineout possession.

            Gowerton School 1^st XV continued their Aquazone sponsored Ospreys region league fixtures when they travelled to Swansea Uplands RFC to play Gower College and returned with victory 55-5. Although the final result indicated a comfortable win, the game was extremely competitive and the final score was scant reward for the efforts of the hosts.

 Olly Smith ‘cantered in’ for our second try.

       Gowerton kicked off with the strong breeze at their backs. The initial forward exchanges were very competitive with the College front row of Jo Whitehorn, Liam Kissick and Alex Sims all competing strongly whilst Gowerton’s back row of Ewan Brown, Max Harris and Jack Soproniuk were tigerish in defence and relentless in search of the loose ball. Behind the scrum the speed and quality of their handling gave the visitors a distinct advantage with the distribution of half backs Milo Fleming and Steffan Tyrrell giving the outside backs ample opportunity to display their skills. Scrum half Fleming’s accurate service earned him the man of the match award

The visitors dominated territory in the early stages and took the lead in the 6^th minute when a well executed backs move saw centre Kieran Charles run an excellent angle to slice through the defence and cross for a try that wing Olly Smith converted.

 Steffan Tyrrell gets up close and personal with an opponent.

           Gower College defended strongly for the next quarter and when in possession both fly half Brandon Owen and full back Rhys Vickery looked dangerous. Gowerton increased their lead in the 24^th minute when a kick to the corner by fly half Tyrrell established territory deep in the hosts’ 22 and from the resulting scrum the ball was moved wide and wing Smith cantered in to the corner. They scored their third try before the break when flanker Brown won possession on the floor and full back Tom Ham showed both impressive balance and footwork to evade several defenders and burst clear to score a try that wing Smith converted. At the break, Gowerton’s lead was 19 points.

With the advantage of the breeze at their backs Gower College applied the early pressure in the second half and were on the board in the 42^nd minute when hooker Liam Kissick broke away from a well organised catch and drive to dive over for a try.

The visitors responded immediately when a strong run by elusive wing Jordan Richards allowed him to break clear out wide, the ball was transferred inside where centre Charles was running an intelligent line and sprinted clear for a try that Ham now playing scrum half converted.

Tom Ham fires a pass out to Olly Smith.

         The visitors’ fifth try was the best of the game, the ceaseless effort of hooker Brown won possession in his 22 and skillful passing and offloading saw the ball being moved through countless pairs of hands before being transferred to flanker Max Harris who burst clear for a try that fly half Tyrrell converted.

Gowerton were now brimming with confidence and added four further scores in the final six minutes. First more good work by hooker Brown allowed scrum half Ham to break clear on half way and he sprinted clear for his second try. Then a great offload by mobile lock Sam Clark allowed impressive centre Charles to complete his hat-trick. A powerful surge by prop Ollie Quick gave wing Richards the space to sprint clear for a score before finally good work by centre Dexter Ryde released fly half Tyrrell for a try. Ham added the extras to one of the tries and the final whistle followed.

Gowerton host Gwyr in a top of the table clash next week.

Photographs: Aaron Duthie year 13.