Thursday 21st January 2016.
Year 9 beat the weather and Pentrehafod.
Jacob Rees gets the ball away. Josh Thomas was ‘cited’ for taking his team mate out!
Gowerton year 9: 17 Pentrehafod year 9: 15
Year 9 warm up for their Welsh cup game against Strade with a win.
Gowerton school year 9 entertained Pentrehafod at Gowerton RFC and despite the wet, cold and windy conditions the two teams produced a very competitive game in which they shared six tries and were only separated at the final whistle by the home team’s one successful conversion.
Scrum half Joel Matuschke spins a pass away.
The visitors kicked off playing against the strong wind but applied the early pressure with centre Harley Thomas, No.8 Will Ellis and front row forwards Callum Green and James Eaton all strong ball carriers. Fly half Matthew Hutchison looked certain to open the scoring only to be denied by an excellent cover tackle from centre Charlie Williams.
In the 12th minute, it was Gowerton who were first on the scoreboard when a strong run by flanker Jacob Rees allowed centre Ben Petherbridge to break clear. He fed full back Olly Bruce who drove over for a try that scrum half Joel Matuschke converted.
Alex Jones wins possession in a lineout.
Pentrehafod responded strongly and worked their way upfield. They were awarded a 5 metre scrum from which No.8 Ellis picked up and cleverly fed fly half Hutchison who powered over. There were no additions to the score and Pentrehafod were in confident mood at the break, trailing by only two points with the elements in their favour in the second half.
Charlie Williams looks for a gap.
Jacob Turatto and debutant Rhys Harry put a brave ‘face on’, despite only being selected ‘on the bench’.
However, the early stages of the second period saw the hosts on top, with man of the match prop Cameron Davies running powerfully and being well supported by lock Connor Williams and flankers Josh Thomas and Jacob Rees. They increased the lead in the 28th minutes when good work by fly half Jacob Turatto, prop Davies and No.8 Tim Perkins established a position from which lock Connor Williams was able to profit by scoring in the corner.
Two minutes later, Gowerton increased their lead when No.8 Perkins picked up from the base of a scrum on halfway and showed great pace to sprint clear and score in the corner.
The visitors weren’t prepared to go down without a fight and with fly half Hutchison to the fore and flanker Rhys Stebbings and centre Dylan Scott-James both prominent they crossed for two tries of their own, both scored by the outstanding Hutchison. The conversion attempts drifted just wide and at the final whistle Gowerton had held on for a narrow victory.
