Fixture

Birchgrove returned to winning ways in style today with a crushing defeat of Girling RFC 93-10 at Parc Bedw. I am unsure whether the result was influenced by my return to the touch line after missing the last two games or the fact the home side did not let the  Motor Factor Factory side from Cwmbran get out of first gear.

The first score set the seal for the day as a poor clearance kick from the Girling defence was collected on the home 10 metre line by Ritchie Beynon. Beynon started what looked like a casual counter attack with a short diagonal run before backing himself to straighten up and slice through the wafer thin away defence to cover the 40 yards to the line. Nick Fisher converted 7 – 0 and the journey begins ……..

From the poor restart Birch were again quickly on the offensive and with the home pack showing up well it was no time before the next try came. A successful tight scrum gave Nathan Jones the opportunity to make a half break and Nick Fisher was on his shoulder to go over for the second try which he also converted 14 – 0.

Birchgrove forwards and backs were now well in the ascendancy and taking every opportunity to string attacking combinations together. A Nathan Jones initiated attack saw the ball move quickly through the hands of Adam Percival and Luke Beynon and back to Jones when busy hooker Conor Gallivan decided to join the party at an acute angle before the “pretty boys” combined again to put Ritchie Beynon over for his second try of the day converted by Fisher 21 – 0.

With Girling struggling albeit gamely to stem the tide and Birch in no mood to put the breaks on,  the back row of Matthew Harris, Robert Diulio and Josh Key were creating huge gaps in the away defence. A Josh Key burst for the line almost got him on the score sheet but a last gasp tackle held him up only for Nathan Jones to pick up and go over for try number four unconverted 26 – 0

With the game over as a contest there was a steady flow of scoring to lead up to half time with further tries coming from Rob John and  a second for Nathan Jones after throwing the most audacious dummy of the season. Forwards Dan Humphries (with an i) and current top scoring forward Dai Cullen  also kept the scoreboard ticking over with two more and  conversions from Nick Fisher taking the half time score to 50 – 0.

The second half brought some forward changes with influential captain Luke Williams taking a rest for Tom Downing and Matthew Harris coming off for Kriss Williams to go up front and Dai Cullen move back to the boilerhouse.

The procession of tries continued at a pace firstly with Josh Key covering 35 yards with some power running to get on the scoreboard 55 -0.  You wondered on the line what was going to maintain the supporters interest in this game. Maybe an unusual turn of events or the achievement of a new club record or even a fightback from the visitors.

Well we had all three in relative terms . First the unusual, we have seen some fine individual achievements from Birchgrove players past and present but the next try set young Ritchie Beynon on a path that I think he and the fans  will always remember. In scoring the teams 10^th try he managed to put himself in pretty good Company with a hat trick of tries. He surpassed this however with the help of his friends and some determined running to take  the next two tries and give himself an exceptional five tries on the day and a match haul of  twenty five points. Well done !! And well done also to Nick Fisher who  chipped in with a personal tally of 26 points from two tries and eight conversions.

But what about the visitor turn around, well it was unfortunately short lived and started quite bizarrely with the visitors who were 67 points adrift opting to take a 45 yard penalty kick which put their first points on the board at 67 -3. They were also to get a consolation try late in the game when the solid aggression of their two centres eventually paid off as their 13  crossed for a converted try to take the score to 74 10. All credit to the Girling side who did not give up throughout the match and there were many in the Birchgrove supporter group who remember only too well that we also have been on the wrong end of these big scores !!

So as the game drew to  it’s conclusion with further tries from Nicky Fisher, substitute Dale John and  wing Luke Beynon thoughts turned to the Club record books for confirmation of 93 -  10 being the  highest score in a match – 93 , most number of tries scored – 15 and highest individual try scoring effort from young Beynon -5 .

Some old sages were referred to in the clubhouse later and some remarkable stories (some a bit hazy and obviously alcohol embellished) were dragged up of previous superhuman achievement but unless documentary evidence can be provided to the contrary all three records will stand for the time being.

A good day therefore but let’s not lose sight of where we are and the challenges that still await us in the league campaign where Bryncoch away are the next hurdle November 12^th after next week’s international break.