Fixture

Birchgrove shocked their “more illustrious” Division 1 opponents Penallta in the quarter final of the Silver Ball Competition at Glynneath last night defeating the high flying Division 1 East outfit 27points to  20.

On a blustery night Birchgrove quickly showed that they were not going to be intimidated by the opponents with a solid scrum and some physical forward drives giving them good territorial gains. It was Penallta who were to strike first however with a bit of a soft try which in truth was against the run of play as an unusual defensive lapse let them in for the first converted try 0 -7.

The second division side wasted no time in hitting back though as their tight scrum turned the screw and half backs Rob Scrine and Jamie Sturgess got the hard running  backs in to motion. Having secured a good attacking position it was Lewis Cox bullocking over for our first try converted by Matthew Edwards 7 -7.

Birchgrove increased their lead with a penalty from Edwards 10 -7  and were dominating play but another lapse allowing a restart to bounce unguarded in to touch gave Penallta only their second real foothold in the Birchgrove twenty two. Despite dogged defence with Josh Key showing up well Penallta managed to execute a fairly simple line out ploy to get over for their second converted try 10 – 14 and then increase their lead to 10 – 17 with a penalty.

The second division boys were not to be outdone though and again courtesy of a solid forward platform were soon flying toward the opposition line deftly utilising the skills of the five players who at sometime this season have featured at outside half for the Club (Answers on a postcard please ..) combined with the less subtle but equally effective Scrine and the centre partnership of Adam Percival and Joe Gage. It was Lee Harris who was able to claim the final touch and with his customary flourish glided in for try number two again converted by Edwards 17 – 17.

Maintaining the pressure, much to the surprise and now visible annoyance of the Penallta followers around me, Birchgrove continued to put the pressure on and another combined handling move at some pace saw Matthew Edwards squeeze in at the corner and then add insult to injury by converting his own try from the touchline for a magnificent 24 -17  half time lead.

With fresh legs being brought on at half time Penallta kicked off with new verve and optimism which was satisfied to a certain extent as their scrum was no longer being  illuminated by reversing lights and they managed to get some grip on territory inside the Birchgrove half. A penalty closed the gap to  24 - 20 , before Matthew Edwards  attempted what would have been close to the world record distance for a penalty taken from inside his own half with the angle measuring at least 70/75 yards only to see the ball agonisingly hit the post just below the upright.

It was Birchgrove who were now having to defend predominantly and how well they did this was highlighted by the fact that Penallta were making little headway  against the solid Red line and were getting frustrated in their efforts to get over the gain line. Penalties were the result and Matthew Edwards who had a charmed life it seemed in the first half had two opportunities to put the game out of reach but was unable to claim either.

With the clock ticking down though you just knew that if another chance came his way it would be all over and so it was the crowd hushed as he stepped up and rifled the ball through the posts  27 – 20. One more skirmish and the referee said enough is enough and Birchgrove celebrate a great night for the Club and get a taste of what life may be like in the higher division if the coveted prize of promotion is secured in the coming weeks which I am sure we will.

Well done lads keep it up.