Year 11 make ‘rusty’ start.
Solid defence is the key to winning start.
Year 11 got their season off to a winning start when they travelled to the year 11 festival at Sandfields school. However, their handling skills looked a little ‘rusty’ throughout and they will need to improve them when they start their Welsh schools’ cup programme at Cwmtawe next Tuesday.
The festival was organised to allow teams and players to have an early season run out and it proved a very worthwhile exercise with Gowerton winning all four games that they played. Impressively their defence was unflinching and they didn’t concede a try during the day.
Gowerton5Gwyr 0
In their first game Gowerton played neighbours Gwyr and it was their opponents who dominated territory in the early stages, but with flankers Rhys Evans and Jack Cambriani powerful defenders Gwyr were unable to open the scoring and it was Gowerton who opened the scoring when wing Olly Smith sprinted in from 30 metres to finish off a move orchestrated by fly half Philip Jones. Centre Tom Howell nearly doubled the lead when he sliced through the defence, but he was halted just short and at full time Gowerton’s win was achieved by the narrowest of margins.
Gowerton 10 Llangatwg 0
Gowerton then played Llangatwg and were on the front foot from the start with prop Tom Northey and locks Sam Clark and Max Harris dominating in the contact area. They took the lead when scrum half Callum Lewis spotted a gap around the fringe of a maul and had the pace to outstrip the defence from 30 metres. The lead was doubled when good work by the forwards allowed prop Steffan Gibbon to power over.
Gowerton 25 Llangynwyd (Maesteg)0
The most convincing win came over Llangynwyd from Maesteg. Lock Ethan Harris and hooker Luke Snell impressed with their work rate and willingness to do the unseen grafting work and Gowerton crossed for five unanswered tries.
Firstly, No.8 Morgan Morris picked up from the base of a 5 metre scrum and crossed. Full back Keelan Giles then scored an excellent individual try when he gathered a long downfield kick inside his own ’22 and set off on a counterattacking run that saw him beat several defenders before his pace allowed him to sprint clear. Centre Rhys Evans then latched on to a loose ball and chipped ahead to win the chase and grab the third score. Then omnipresent flanker and captain Will Jones was on hand to support Brandon Gordon and add the fourth try before hooker Jordon Liney showed power and pace to score from halfway and complete the scoring.
Gowerton 15 Pencoed 0
Gowerton dominated the final match, with wing James Rudderham looking dangerous. They opened the scoring when scrum half Milo Fleming spotted a weakness on the fringe of a maul and sprinted clear from 30 metres to open the scoring.
Wing Jordan Marshall doubled the lead when he hit an excellent angle and then powered through two defenders to score. From the kick off, prop Steffan Gibbon gathered the ball on his own 10 metre and showed impressive pace to sprint 60 metres to complete the scoring.
