Fixture

As expected this local derby was another close encounter and another very good game for the big crowd on a lovely sunny afternoon at the Bandstand field. From the outset both sides were looking to play open running rugby and the first ten to fifteen minutes saw Porthcawl in great attacking mode. The Sports defence held well and when they finally got continued possession it was Porthcawl’s chance to show their defensive skills.

However, when the Sports quickly spread the ball to Jack Evans on the left wing the following ruck was driven well and it was stand-in prop Chris Davies who drove well to touch down for a try that Josh Davies converted and the Sports took the lead. Porthcawl then put together a series of attacks which resulted in an overlap being created after good distribution from player coach Jon Phillips at fly half which allowed Gareth Rees to score in the corner. Phillips just missing the conversion.

In this see-saw of a game now the Sports put pressure on the Porthcawl defence forcing them in to a handling error on the ground and it was an easy kick for Josh Davies as the Sports extended their lead to10-5. On the stroke of half time Porthcawl attacked down the right wing and switched the ball back to their forwards in support and prop Tim Lunn was in the right space to drive over for another unconverted try to end the half all square at ten a piece.

The second half was even tighter than the first as you would expect of two sides that know each other so well. Whilst the Porthcawl threes looked the more dangerous it was the Sports forwards who were putting the visitors under a lot of pressure. Matthew Donnelly and Josh Thomas were outstanding as was the whole back row. It was hard to judge front row play as uncontested scrums marred that aspect of play. There were no tries in the half but on two occasions the Sports gave away penalties and when Porthcawl changed kicker to Josh White, he did what he has often done to the Sports in recent history by scoring two out of two kicks and Porthcawl ended as worthy winners at 10-16.

The away fixture will be another great game and no doubt the Sports will be looking for an important win and that they can get some consistency back into selection after Saturday’s experimentation.

Next week the Sports play Bryncoch away in another inportant game