Fixture

Finally the boys got to remember what it was like to play at home. Welcoming a newly strengthened Merthyr team that had absorbed the best of the Cefn Coed U16 team that had disbanded recently. I was impressed at the pre-match attitude with the boys in a good frame of mind through the warm-up. The first few minutes were really testing and a good physical battle emerged. The Chepstow pack were on song with Lewis Bedford anchoring the scrum along with Angus and Callum. Jake S & Fred hit their rucks and Will, Joe B and Spencer tackled well around the fringes.

Ball was in good supply and Edwin mixed his options well including some relieving kicks. Joe showed great timing to bring his runners onto the gain line and into gaps, notable yards being made by Angus several times. Morgan and Keegan looked potent at centre, running good angles. The focused start led to 2 well worked tries , converted by Joe to create a cushion. However, Merthyr has some handy, physical runners and were always going to pose a threat throughout. Tom Wacey, Jim Oliver and Jake Allbert all worked hard as a back three to try to contain the free running Merthyr full back. Jayden Davies and Dan Williams were brought into the game and had a good impact. Finally they broke through to score and start to gain some momentum. Several further Chepstow attacks resulted in no score as we tightened up a little.

At half-time the boys knew they were in a battle but that they had enough firepower to see them through. The 2^nd half remained a tight affair, Thomas had stepped in at outside half with Joe moving to inside centre to increase the defensive strength. Chepstow pressed and pressed, eventually scoring to take a more comfortable 21-5 lead. However, Merthyr upped their game and took a direct, more physical approach that paid dividends with the next try.

Final score 21-10

Things to be pleased about

• Good attitude throughout
• Physicality
• Varying options emerging in the backline

Things to work on

• More defensive pressure needed to stop opposition speedsters finding space
• Lineout

On we go……