Round 5. Indigo Group Premiership 2022/23

MERTHYR FORWARDS PAVE THE WAY TO A BONUS POINT WIN

MERTHYR 35 v SWANSEA 14

(Saturday 8th October 2022 at The Wern.)

The Merthyr forwards paved the way for a bonus point win over the “All Whites” of Swansea at the Wern in perfect playing conditions. The pack led by captain Craig Locke dominated the Swansea forwards in all phases of the game seen the Ironmen run in five tries.

Merthyr raced into a 14-point lead thanks to a try from the ever-improving wing man Dafydd Thomas who went over from 35 metres out following some fine handling from the Merthyr three quarters, outside half Thompson converting. The Merthyr pack were beginning to get the upper hand at the set piece with Swansea guilty of giving away penalties as they struggled with the forward power, and it was not long before they doubled the lead when a penalty 25 metres out was kicked deep into the Swansea 25. From the lineout won by Second row Callum Bradbury the Merthyr 8 drove the Swansea 8 back over their own line with back row man Tom Daley claiming the try, Thompson converted for a 14-0 lead.

Merthyr then lost back row man Phil Rees to a yellow card for an alleged high tackle, this let the visitors back into the game. Swansea’s kicked deep into the Merthyr 25 and won the attacking lineout with flanker Callum Bowden driving forward from the maul the ball was spread wide to Wales U20s wingman Harri Houston who raced in for a try, outside Scully converting to close the gap 14-7. This gave the All Whites some hope and were unlucky not to have closed the gap further when Scully hit the posts from a penalty 45 metres out. Although the Merthyr forwards had dominated the first 40 minutes at half time it was anyone’s game at 14-7.

As the second half began Merthyr were soon on the front foot once again with storming runs from Prop Chris Phillips and back row man Jack Perkins. Merthyr were awarded a penalty after Swansea gave away another penalty as Merthyr drove Swansea off their own ball 30 metres out. Once again Merthyr opted for the kick to touch and once again from the lineout a powerful drive from the Merthyr 8 saw Swansea collapse the maul just short of the line, with match Referee Simon Rees awarding a penalty try to give the home side a 21-7 lead. Back came the Ironmen as they kept the pressure on Swansea, a fine run from full back Ben Jones stretched the Swansea defence with supporting forwards Tom Daley and Perkins up in support. An error in the Swansea defence then led to a Merthyr scrum five, with the home pack powering the Swansea 8 backwards at a rate of knots leading to scrum half James Soanes touching down for the try, Thompson converted for a 28-7 lead and bonus point.

Swansea came at Merthyr with several good phases of possession which saw their young backs trying to stretch the home side, but great home tackling keeping them out from several waves of attacks. After Merthyr soaked up the pressure, they managed to move the ball wide to wingman Adam Hoskins who raced down the wing to beat the covering defence to score and put the result beyond doubt as he stretched over in the corner, Thompson converted for a 35-7 home lead. Back came the ironmen once again has they look for another score and when Swansea gave away another scrum penalty 30 meters out Thompson kicked for touch. From the lineout Merthyr failed to secure clean ball and when the ball was tapped down it got to replacement full back Matthew Jenkins who raced away up field 70 metres to score a consolation try for the All Whites, Scully converted to end a well-deserved home win from the Ironmen. For the home side it was the forwards that laid down the foundation for the win which was well led by Captain Craig Locke who was returning from injury. As credit must be given to the other 7 forwards that all played their part in the win especially the front row of Chris Phillips, Hooker Dan Wall, and tight head Rhys Lewis. Behind the scrum, half backs Soanes and Thompson linked well together, wing man Dafydd Thomas looks a great prospect for the remainder of the season and replacement centre Morgan Sieniawski looked dangerous with ball in hand. The Ironmen now travel to unbeaten league leaders Aberavon this weekend for their next Indigo Premiership game.

MERTHYR: 15 B JONES, 14 J CUSHION, 13 D THOMAS, 12 R DAVIES, 11 A HOSKINS, 10 G THOMPSON, 9 J SOANES, 1 C PHILLIPS, 2 D WALL, 3 R LEWIS, 4 C LOCKE©, 5 C BRADBURY, 6 T DALEY, 7 J PERKINS, 8 P REES, 16 R WILLIMAS(D Wall 76mins), 17 L JONES(R Lewis 65 mins), 18 C LEWIS(C Phillips65mins), 19 L ASHLEY(C Locke 45mins), 20 T JEVONS(J Perkins 56mins), 21 M SIENIAWSKI(R Davies 56mins), 22 J KEENAN J Cushion 75mins), 23 C DAVIES( D Thomas 70mins)
SCORERS, D Thomas1t (10 Min), T Daley 1t(17min) Penalty try(50min) J Soanes 1t (65 min), A Hoskins1t (75 min), G Thompson 4 cons.
Referee Simon Rees (WRU).