Fixture

Birchgrove travelled to meet Bridgend Athletic at Newbridge Fields today and turned a 17-0 half time defecit in to creditable 17 – 17  draw.

Birch could have taken the lead early on but for a contentious disallowed penalty kick before the Athletic capitalised on some midfield mishandling allowing their speedy left wing to race in for the first try, unconverted 5 – 0.

An uneventful exchange of out of hand kicking ensued but once again it was the Athletic who  showed greater enterprise against what was at this stage a lethargic away performance and crisp back play resulted in the home side’s second try and a deserved 10 – 0 lead.

Birchgrove continued to struggle and were unable to get any cohesive play going and it was no surprise that the home side were able to capitalise on a horrendous defensive mix up to claim an easy third try and a comfortable 17 – 0 half time lead.

After a “hair dryer” roasting from Coach Lee Purnell at half time , the Birchgrove followers were pleased to see a more determined approach from the visitors as they looked to make amends for the shortcomings of the first half. Substitute Ashley Morgan was carrying strongly and some robust backs running was thwarted only by some unfortunate mishandling close to the opposition line.

The early pressure though was soon turned in to points as strong running wing Tristan James was able to burst through the home cover defence for the Robins’ first try converted by Ryan Evans 17 – 7. This was much better now and strong bursts from Ashley Evans, Josh Jarret, Ryan Evans and Leigh Di’luilio were putting pressure on the away defence. It was Sam Evans though who was to epitomise the newly found away grit has he pin balled his way through the flaying defence for a great individual try 17 – 12.

With the pack now firing on all cylinders with Liam Richards, Tom Downing and Morgan leading the charge the resurgence was blooming and a Tristan James, Scott Gibson combination almost brought further reward before the point of attack changed to bring powerful wing Josh Jarret in to the line to claim try number 3 and a levelling of the score at 17 – 17.

It’s a funny old game though! Just as the travelling faithful were rubbing their hands with glee at the renaissance of their side, it was the home team feeling the game slipping away from them who suddenly sparked in to life. A concerted forward effort soon had the Birch pegged back on their own line and a brave last-minute tackle held up an away try claim. A kickable penalty which could have sealed the game for the Athletic was also spurned before a Birch counter attack and an away yellow card brought the game to a close at 17 – 17.

On reflection, to recover from a 17 – 0 defecit was more than creditable and we were probably more satisfied with the outcome than the Athletic but let’s hope it is the second half performance we use as our yardstick as we go in to next week’s eagerly awaited Local Derby against rivals Bonymaen at home, kick off 2.30. See you there.

Candidates for Man of the Match this week were :-

Liam Richards, Tom Downing and Ashley Morgan up front

Tristan James and Sam Evans behind.

Man of the Match goes to hard running Tristan James