Fixture

 Birchgrove took the short journey to Cwrt Herbert to take on Neath Athletric and came away with a seven try bonus point 18 – 38 victory.

Before the game I was advised by Colin Kirkhouse that  scrum half and backs Coach Nathan Jones for personal reasons had resigned his position and returned to Trebanos and we would like to thank Nathan for his Coaching and playing contribution for the last season and a half. To balance this we saw the return of last years No 10 and prolific scorer Liam Garland to the fold and Liam will also assist in the backs coaching. Also joining the club is Wing/centre Gavin Jones and on permit for today’s game  the Penlan captain Rob Green.

So down to business and it was Birchgrove who were first to show with some aggressive forward play taking the game to the home side . After a couple of forward drives it was Tom Downing who was on hand to pick up and drive through  a stretched defence for the opening try 0- 5. Birchgrove continued to hold the upper hand in territory terms but suffered a setback as tight head Prop Daniel John was given a 10 minute breather and the Athletic opened their account with a Penalty 3 -5.

The home side were then to take the lead from a sucker punch try. Nick Fisher fielded a pretty aimless kick in his own 22 and whilst showing enterprise in running the ball out of defence saw his chip kick charged down by the advancing home threequarters and a hack on providing an easy score  8 -5 .

Although maintaining the pressure and putting some good combined back and forward movements together Birch were having some difficulty in turning the supremacy in to points. A sweet handling move involving Liam Garland, Adam Percival, Jordan Williams and the aggressive Rob Green ended with a Tom Downing charge for the line illegally arrested. Nick Fisher stepped up to convert the penalty and the visitors were at least back on level terms 8 – 8.

With Birchgrove suffering from some indiscipline problems and at various times being down to 14 and even 13 men for a short period it was pleasing to see that approaching half time the lead was increased courtesy of a Nick Fisher try to turn around 8 -13.

With the expectation of building on their lead Birch were in for a shock as the Athletic kicked off and scored their second try of the game within minutes 13 – 13. But it was Fisher again who was to restore the away team lead with his second try of the game following another swift handling movement involving Liam Garland, Scott Beard and Kyle Evans who was having a very spirited game in his unusual wing position 13 -18.

The next score was the try of the day as the good work of the forwards was now giving the backs licence to thrill. A move which looked to be straight off the training paddock saw the ball zip and loop through the backline with Kyle Evans on hand to add the score the bonus point try, again unconverted,13 -23.

The fifth try was not long coming, similar pattern , forward commitment and swift back movement put Dai Cullen in for a  try followed by Nick Fisher’s third try of the game and a final flourish from Percival making it a good day at the office with a only a momentary lapse allowing the Athletic to benefit from a Penalty Try to bring the final score to 18-38.

A good team performance and the second double of the season keeps Birch in the hunt and in second place 2 points behind leaders Taibach but it’s a tight division as Nantyfyllon and Swansea Uplands in third and fourth have games in hand. But heads down and points in the bag could be vital so home to Pyle next week and more of the same we hope.