Fixture

Birchgrove  travelled to Gorseinon today for the first round of the inaugural WRU Division 1 Cup and came away with an exciting  10 -34 five try victory.

Gorseinon were the first to show attacking intent as they put some pressure on the visiting line and were rewarded with a penalty 3 – 0.

Birchgrove though showing some solid scrummaging  were looking menacing and were unlucky not to get on the scoreboard as Jack Perkins was  held up just short. It was only a matter of time though before some concerted forward momentum allied to probing back play brought the first try as Scott Gibson was on hand to finish a darting attack and with a Matthew Edwards conversion put Birch 3 – 7 in front.

Gorseinon responded with some bullocking runs in to the heart of the visiting defence which was giving no quarter with Coach Lee Purnell, Tom Downing and the formidable second row pairing of Tom Wright and Rhys Morgan standing fast and No 10 Ryan Evans readily on hand to offer relieving kicks .

Play was now moving evenly between the two 22 yard lines with a succession of penalties for each side but it was the visitors who were looking more dangerous in attack and were to increase their lead.  A Gorseinon attack was vigorously disrupted in midfield and as the ball found its way to the welcoming hands of Matthew Edwards a deft little chip and chase put him in behind the home defence for try number two which he dutifully converted 3 -14.

Birchgrove with their tails up now continued to snipe at the home defence and with the luxury of solid scrum and lineout ball the back line was always looking capable of increasing the lead. It came as no surprise therefore when a midfield turnover was quickly translated in to speedy counter attack and the effervescent Gibson was once again on hand to score his second and the third try of the day and take Birch comfortably to half time with a 3 – 19 lead.

Gorseinon started the second half though with renewed vigour and with a cross wind now slightly in their favour were soon pressing on the visiting line. It was not to be their day though as a fumble allowed the visiting backs to recover the ball and the Birchgrove  attacking machine which had been purring all game  broke in to overdrive and cruelly hammered home it’s superiority with Matthew Edwards striding almost the length of the field to register try number four and a commanding 3- 24 lead.

But to be fair to the opposition back they came enjoying a period of territorial advantage on the visitors line which after being repelled on a number of occasions eventually bore fruit with a forward dominated touchdown and excellent conversion to reduce the lead to  10 -24.

It was to be short lived though as an Edwards penalty increased the lead to 10 – 27  and a Leigh Di’luilio break almost brought a further score. Gorseinon though were still playing for pride and with a better platform were putting some pressure on the visitors. Chasing the game though is never a comfortable position and when Scott Gibson broke from a fumbled attack to make a mazy, side stepping 40 yard run you knew the game was over as a spectacle.

With support swarming upfield a dubious cross kick was gratefully received by centre Ashley Evans who trotted in under the posts for try number five. Edwards converted for a comprehensive  10 – 34 victory.

A fine all round performance, plenty again to build on as we look forward to the next round of the Cup which will be at home to Pembroke on Sat 15^th October. Before that though its back to league action next week 24^th September when we travel to Ammanford.

MAN OF THE MATCH

To liven the reporting up a little the Supporters this year will select a Man of the Match. A panel of three Supporters each week will make the selection naming the winner and any others who deserve a mention in dispatches. After today’s game I spoke to the panel who concluded that there were a number of candidates narrowing them down to :-

 Lee Purnell for his all-round reassuring air of calmness and unfussy control.

Matthew Edwards for his contribution in attack and defence and an impressive haul of  19 points

Scott Gibson for his tenacious sniping and persistence resulting in two tries and a fine all round performance   

THE WINNER AND MOM IS :  SCOTT GIBSON.