Fixture

Tylorstown - 27

Ynysowen -  23

Tylorstown gained a bonus point victory over the Merthyr side and go into the Christmas period second in the league. This was Tylorstown’s first game in seven weeks and though Tylorstown triumphed, they squandered many opportunities to put the game out of site. Credit must be given to the visitors who took their few chances well and defended admirably for the full 80 minutes.

Tylorstown were superior in all departments and much of the game was played in the opposition half of the field. In the first five minutes Tylorstown scored in the corner following a good line out. Number 8 Dai Hefford touching down. Ynysowen broke away and scored in the corner and kicked a couple of penalties. Kieran Richards, the home scrum half, orchestrated proceedings well and made in roads with a number of breaks.

Tylorstown’s second try was superb. Richards ran blind from a scrum on the home side’s 10 metre line and the ball was passed quickly through the hands. Jamie Davies on the wing made good yardage and showed strength in the tackle to keep the ball alive. Tylorstown’s pack caught up with play and the handling was crisp in contact. Prop Ashley Thomas delivered the scoring pass to second row Lukke Rees who dummied and scored under the posts for outside half Chris Harris to convert.

The second half was dominated again by Tylorstown but the home side were tactically naïve and tried to spread the ball wide rather than kick for territory and blast through the visitors close to the contact area. With Ynysowen not committing players to the breakdown, Tylorstown’s attack became lateral. Time and time again Ynysowen tackled well and Tylorstown became frustrated and tried to force passes which resulted in errors. Twice the visitors came into the Tylorstown half and scored through lapses in concentration from the Tylorstown attackers.

Incredibly Tylorstown were losing with 20 minutes remaining. Harris kicked a penalty and  common sense returned to proceedings with Tylorstown keeping it tight. From a line out inside the visitors 22, Tylorstown executed a terrific driving line out for flanker James Groves to touch down. Still in arrears Tylorstown converted the pressure into points with impressive flanker Adam Phillips touching down with five minutes to go to gain the bonus point and clinch victory.

Phillips, a former youth captain, has returned to Tylorstown along with a number of quality players who have left local clubs. With numbers high in training, players can no longer guarantee a starting place with competition for many positions. There appears to be momentum gathering for Tylorstown to be a force to be reckoned with in the second half of the season and all connected with the club look forward to the next game away to neighbours Wattstown on December 30^th.