Fixture

Birchgrove made the short trip to rivals Bonymaen today and on a typical Cold and Crisp day at lofty Parc Mawr took on the might of the high-flying home side coming away with a disappointing but creditable 2 bonus point defeat 35 -31  

Birchgrove had an early opportunity to take the lead but the normally accurate Matthew Edwards was off target with two strikes at goal before the home side with some strong running posted the first converted try of the day 7. 0.

Birch were soon back in the game though. With the home side temporarily reduced to 14 men and the kicking duties transferred to full back Sam Evans a penalty narrowed the lead to 7. 3. Bony were looking the stronger side though and with the visitors struggling to obtain any quality ball from line out and experiencing some difficulty at the set scrum a Penalty Try was not a surprise from some concerted pressure 14. 3

Bony looking to capitalise on forward domination were always looking capable of extending their lead but some poor kicking options and dogged defence were keeping them at bay. It was Birchgrove sticking to their task who were then rewarded with the next score. Busy winger Josh Jarrett taking a high cross kick cleverly shrugged off the enthusiastic attention of the home defence before making ground and offloading to the supporting Matthew Edwards to go over for a try converted by Sam Evans and Birch were back in the game at 14 -10 .

Although still lagging in the ball winning stakes it was the visitors who again struck before half time as the once again alert Jarrett was on hand to sneak over for the Robins second converted try and a half time lead of 14 .17

A revitalised Bonymaen side came out fighting in the second half and were soon exerting pressure on the Birch line. Yet another line out malfunction was enough to give the home side the initiative and in classic catch and drive they almost restored their lead but for a brave intervention by visiting  skipper Leigh Di’lulio. The line pressure was maintained though and despite brave if sometimes dubious defensive tactics the referee awarded the Bony their second Penalty try of the day 21 – 17

With their tails up and urged on by a partisan crowd Bony were now looking to put the game to bed and when their No 9 broke on the blind side of a strong scrum to claim their third try of the day successfully converted a 28 – 17 lead looked a bit ominous.

But unlike the last outing against Bridgend Athletic when spirits seemed to fall away the visitors dug in and exhibited a fighting mood manifesting itself much   to the exhilaration of the away supporters in the bulky frame of second row Rhys Morgan temporarily taking on the mantle of mid field maestro and setting off on a yard galloping drive towards the home line. The ever-present support of Scott Gibson was soon on hand to relieve the potential Morgan lung rupture and with a try and cheeky drop goal conversion from Sam Evans game on at 28.24.

With the away support now looking at least to a losing bonus they were sent in to blissful rapture as replacement Sam Berbillion took advantage of some scrappy home midfield play and gratefully accepting a generous interception sped towards the home line with a slightly premature but gleeful celebration to put the Birch back in the lead. Sam Evans again converted and at 28 – 31 even the glistening new electric scoreboard was struggling to contend with the fact that an away victory, no matter how unlikely, was on the cards.

With the clock ticking away and moving well in to overtime though the hopes of the visitors were soon to be cruelly overturned. A passage of play which should have allowed us to keep the ball and see the game out was reversed and the now frantic Bony response quickly put them back on the visiting line. With wounded honour at stake, it was the home scrum driven by pride and power who were to have the last say in an exhilarating and exciting contest and one final push saw them over the try line for a converted score and a 35 -31 victory.

A great spectacle on the day and well done to all involved. For the home team a hard-fought victory. For Birchgrove a massive uplift in passion and from a position of probably being given little chance of victory a fighting display. Even allowing for the lack of set piece quality ball, 2 bonus points is a more than reasonable return.

We go again next week against another dominant force, Dunvant at home. Don’t miss it.

Man of the match set a poser for the panel this week, a number of brave displays

Leigh Di’uilio

Liam Richards

Josh Jarrett

Sam Evans.

The Crown goes to Josh Jarrett