Fixture

Birchgrove travelled to Waunarlwydd today to kick off the new Season and within minutes had made their mark as scrum half Scott Gibson kicked ahead and wing Tristan James followed up to touch down. Mathew Edwards added the extras and at 0 – 7 in front this was Easy !!!

Well, not the case as a gruelling contest ensued which saw Waunarlwydd prove that they were no fall guys and Birchgrove once again demonstrate that the game is never lost until the final whistle.

So as Birch celebrated their early score, Waun took it upon themselves to bounce back as quickly as possible and with 10 minutes on the clock and following territorial advantage and forward power a scrum presented their 9 with a blind side opportunity to go over for an unconverted try  5 – 7.

An arm wrestle ensued which was panning out with the home side dominating the set scrum and line out and Birch being restricted to the occasional counter attack orchestrated by scrum half Scott Gibson  but  with some exceptional defence with usual culprits Adam Percival and Jack Perkins to the fore.

It was the away side though who were to increase their fragile lead as first Mathew Edwards was just short with a gargantuan 50 yard wind assisted penalty effort dropping just short but making up for it with a shorter successful effort giving Birch a just about deserved 5 – 10 half time lead.

Waun kicked off the second half , now with the wind in their favour,  with positive purpose and soon claimed territorial advantage. Although the visiting scrum had appeared to be offering greater resistance a 22 Yard defensive scrum was  turned and in the ensuing melee the referee awarded a Penalty try to the home side giving them the first time lead of 10 -12.

This was now a war of attrition which we have to accept had Waun in the ascendency with only flashes of counter attack from the visitors through Gibson, Josh Jarret and centres Evans and Randall.

It was defensive duty though which was to win the day  as with little time left on the clock wave after wave of Waunarwydd attacks were repelled and having won a vital defensive line out the embattled visiting side steadily made their way up field to create a foothold near halfway.

A home indiscretion presented Birch with a penalty some 45 yards out which against the wind would seem an unlikely prospect but cometh the hour cometh the man and Captain for the day Mathew (Murphy) Edwards stepped up to the plate, took a deep breath, casually waited for the wind to drop and navigated the kick bang down the middle to seal a late  13 – 12.lead

Hang on to the ball from kick off  was now  the cry and was dutifully acceded to and the final whistle brought joy to the visitors and disappointment to a Waunarlwydd side who had contributed much to an entertaining opening game to the Season.

Plenty to work on but a victory and the return of a few lads unavailable today because of mainly holiday commitments will give us optimism for the next game WRU Division  1 Cup  away to Gorseinon 17^th September.

The home league game against Brynamman scheduled for next week September 10^th has been postponed on compassionate grounds following the tragic death of respected  Club Member and Sponsor John Williams.  RIP John.