There were seven tries for the home side in a performance that provided ample revenge for their defeat in last season’s final by the same side. Now they are on well on course to reach the play-offs again while the champions, 10 points back in fourth face an uphill task to clinch a home semi-final.
In a game that was switched from Llandovery’s Church Bank to the all-weather surface in Pontypridd it was obvious that Sir Gar were going to be at a disadvantage having to play their arch-rivals away from home. They have never beaten them on Cymoedd turf.
Even though the first-half was pretty even, and Sir Gar were left ruing a number of missed chances, it was Cymoedd who held the upper hand on the score with a 24-10 advantage. That followed the pattern of last season’s final, but the second half took a completely different turn to that game.
~This time it was Cymoedd who turned on the style and conjured up four tries to secure a bonus point and top the half-century mark. Prop Frazer Hughes picked up two of the tries, fellow pack members Cian Lewis-Hughes, Ioan Davies and Ieuan Pring also got on the scoresheet.
The rest of the home side’s tries came from their impressive back division. Wing George Thomas finished off another chance, centre Joe Vickers also crossed the Sir Gar line and outside half Rhys Davies converted all seven tries and kicked a penalty for a match tally of 17 points
The Sir Gar response came via tries from flanker Jac Morgan in the first half and full back Harri Doel and wing Dean James in the second. Llew Smith kicked a penalty and David Jones knocked over a conversion.
It was Sir Gar’s second successive defeat having been beaten 14-7 by Cardiff & Vale College, but director of rugby Euros Evans is not panicking just yet. He still believes his side can clinch a home semi-final in the second half of the season to give themselves a chance of retaining their title.
“I was quite happy with the first-half, although we didn’t take our chances. Then they blew us off the park in the first 20 minutes of the second half,” admitted Evans.
“We were beaten by the better team and for some players it was a reminder that talent isn’t the only thing you need to succeed. You have to have the right level of application.
“The important thing now is that we react in the right way and, with the run of fixtures we have to the end of the season, we are still targeting second place and a home semi-final. We set high standards at Sir Gar, and have high expectations of our players, and they have to learn from this defeat.”
Cymoedd have now won six out of six this season and are averaging more than 40 points per game. They have been scoring tries for fun and have six games to come before the play-offs against Coleg Llandrillo, Coleg Gwent, Whitchurch HS, Newport HS, Ysgol Glantaf and Llandovery College.
The game on 17 January, 2018, against Glantaf, currently in second place in the table, looks like being the toughest assignment out of those games. Sir Gar’s hardest assignment in the second half of the campaign is likely to be against fifth placed Neath Port Talbot College on 5 December.
“Nobody will be talking about this game at the end of the season so we won’t be getting carried away with the result. It was nice to win and to erase some of the hurt that we felt after losing in last season’s final,” said former Wales wing Gareth Wyatt, who is one of the Cymoedd coaches.
“We were fortunate in the first half that we were able to pressurise them into making a few mistakes. The second half was a bit like one-way traffic.
“We are pleased with the start we have made, but while it was a good win over Sir Gar we know we didn’t play as well as we would have liked.”
Scorers: Cymoedd: Tries: Frazer Hughes, George Thomas, Joe Vickers, / Cian Lewis-Hughes, Ioan Davies, Frazer Hughes, Ieuan Pring; Cons: Rhys Davies 7; Pen: Rhys Davies; Sir Gar: Tries: Jac Morgan, Harri Doel, Dean James; Cons: David Jones; Pens: Llew Smith
