Fixture

Birchgrove moved smoothly on to the next round of the Cup with a comfortable 8 -27 win at local  rivals Vardre .

The opening exchanges were fairly even and it was the home side who were to take the lead with the game’s first try. After play had been concentrated between the respective 22’s for some time Vardre managed to put a backs move together to break the deadlock and get the first try and a lead of  5- 0.

Birch soon bounced back as a raking kick from full back Nick Fisher put them in an attacking position near the home line. A resultant scrum led to a penalty for the visitors and a yellow card for a home forward which Birch immediately took advantage of. A charge for the line by Dai Cullen and James Evans  was held up but the recycled ball was swiftly moved on by Ricky Rosser for Lee Harris to pop up on his wrong wing and go over for the try 5 – 5.

Harris almost got a second soon after when he was able to hack on his own charge down of a Vardre clearance kick but his soccer skills let him down at the last minute as the ball rolled safely out of play. Birchgrove were starting to get the upper hand though with Luke Williams and Scott Beard providing a good flow of line out ball and although the tight scrum was being keenly contested the loose work and drive  of Williams, Conor Gallivan , Dai Cullen , James Evans and Tom Downing looked like it would soon be rewarded.

And so it was as some good possession play allowed the visiting backs to get moving and a solid half break from busy centre Jordan Williams put Birch on the front foot. In the same fashion as the first score recycled ball was quickly passed through the hands with young Lee Harris popping up again on his wrong wing to claim the Try 5 -10.

Birch were now in the driving seat and were unlucky not get more points before half time as they piled on the pressure near the home line but to their credit the Vardre held out and managed to get well up field themselves as the referee brought the first half to a close 5 -10.

The second half started with a Bang and an incredible score from , you guessed it, Lee Harris. After his wonder try against Taibach he probably thought that was his moment of brilliance at least for the season if not longer. But he pulled it off  again today as he collected the ball on his own 10 yard line and with his gliding pace and deceiving jink he burned off six or seven defenders before chipping the last man at home and sprinting past him to get his third try of the day and another one for the scrap book. Nick Fisher added the conversion and at 5 -17 the tie looked won.

The Vardre tried valiantly though to get themselves back in to the game but with a forward orientated game plan it didn’t look like it was going to happen. At this stage of the game I unfortunately had to leave but the text network was able to keep me updated as Jordan Williams added another try and Nick Fisher completed things with a second conversion and a penalty to take the final score to 8 – 27.

A comfortable win at the end of the day and just what the Doctor ordered to shake off the defeat of last week and build up a head of steam for the return to League action next week away to Abercrave. Well done to everyone.

I will be away for the next two games but will hope to get enough info to keep the website and Stats tick over.