News

It was the final day of the half term break for many this week, as the youngsters donned the rugby boots for their regular Sunday morning rugby. All sides joined in to celebrate Wales’ winning start to the Autumn Internationals on an emotional Saturday where once again rugby was the winner. For the Sports the following teams were in action:  

Under Sevens

The Under Sevens travelled to Neath and played a round robin against Neath Athletic, Kenfig Hill and  Skewen. They produced some splendid rugby  with great teamwork to enjoy the experience.  Dion Williams showed great attacking skills with six tries over the three games. Livewire Riley Lewis was the top defender , securing twenty tags in total. He was ably supported by Harley Morris.

The deserved man of the match went to Jesse Jones who scored in every game and  contributed to the tag total. All the games were close, but the Sports managed to prevail in all three games.

Under Eights

The Under Eights hosted their own mini festival at Parc Derwen. A well organised mini competition was enjoyed by all teams involved. For the Sports Archie Hall was top tagger with twenty. Their try scorers were also on form with the following players registering their names on the scoresheet. Aled Rees (4) Mikey Heanue (3) Ollie Balmer (3) Rhydian Cronin (2) Gethin Roberts (2).

The overall game scores were:

Bridgend Sports 2 – Kenfig Hill 3;Bridgend Sports 6 – Skewen 3;Bridgend Sports 3 – Nanty 5
Bridgend Sports 3 – Pencoed 4

Under Nines

The Under Nines visited Taibach for another round robin. All games were closely contested with the following outcome:
Taibach 4 Sports 3; Porthcawl 2 Sports 3; Bryncoch 2 Sports 2; Kenfig Hill 2 Sports 4

All players played with spirit and determination as every player took part,and put in a great effort. 
Louis Payne excelled in defence earning tackler of the week. Whilst Reuben Sinclair got more involved in a fine  all round performance to claim the Star Player award.

Under Tens

The Under Tens travelled up to Ogmore Vale to play a round robin with Valley Ravens and Baglan. In the first game, the Valley Ravens got off to a good start and some poor tackling from the Sports, allowed the opposition to breakthrough and score the first points. The Sports hit back with some good support play and some brilliant tackling to turn the ball over which resulted in  Lennon Griffiths scoring a superb try.  Both sides then displayed some good defence with the ball going back and fore. Unfortunately, the wet weather played its part and contributed to a few  spilled passes. However, after some good team play from the Sports, the ball was passed to Osian Stephens, who utilised some good steps to get past the opposition and score the next try. 
After the reset, the ball was recycled well by Sports who produced some great rucking and support play before the ball was passed wide to a waiting Gethin Evans who strode over the line with immense power, carrying three opposition players with him in the process.   
After the next restart, Valley Ravens hit back with some superb team play to respond with two tries.
The Sports regrouped and reorganised themselves with some great team play to allow Reuben Williams to stretch his legs and run for the corner and score. The game restarted and a knock on from the Valley Ravens gave the Sports a put in at the scrum. The ball was passed wide to Leo Giraud, who drove through the opposition to score a convincing try. The Ravens did well to try and make a come back but the  Sports held out with a great defensive effort. Lennon Griffiths deserved a special mention as he seemed to tackle everything in sight.  Billy Carpenter-Davies raced  over the line to score the next try. In the last moments of the game, Osian Stephens ran the length of the pitch against a scrappy defence to score the Sport’s final  try for the overall score to read Bridgend Sports 30 Valley Ravens 15. The Sports faced a strong and fresh Baglan side next but they could not match their efforts of the first game as tiredness set in. The Sports struggled to penetrate their opponents defence. Baglan played some great rugby with some brilliant displays of team play, with the ball being passed well.  The Sports tried to clear their lines on a few occasions by kicking from deep into their half but failed to follow up the kick, which allowed Baglan to counter attack from broken play to dominate the scoreline  50-0.

Under Elevens

The Under elevens had a rare Sunday morning off as their scheduled round robin at Kenfig Hill was cancelled.

Under Twelves

The Under Twelves continued their winning ways with a fine 7-17 victory at Kenfig Hill. The Sports squad of 24  put in a tremendous display with a fine first half performance that the coaches rated as the best the squad has played so far this season. The second half was a tighter affair with the mules having a couple of opportunities to score but the strong Sports defence held out. The Sport try scorers were: Ben Evans (1) and  Rhys Anthony (2).  Sam Gardner added a conversion.

Under Thirteens

They say that nothing comes without hard work and it was certainly true of Sunday’s fixture as Bridgend Sports faced a large Beddau side that seemed to have bolstered in size since the previous fixture of three weeks ago.  With four players missing the Sports knew they were in for a tough game. Like all good sides, they found strength of  character when it was needed to secure a win in what proved to be a difficult encounter.

Bridgend Sports opened the scoring with an early try after the Beddau kick off failed to go the requisite ten metres. The Sports opted for the scrum , centre Iestyn John took play into the Beddau half where he was tackled . Callum Lewis playing at outside half cleaned out the ruck , Connor Jones was on hand to snap up the loose ball , he spotted a gap down the blindside wing to race away and then cut in to score under the posts. Ieuan Pilliner added the conversion.

Whilst the Sports were to dominate the territory for the majority of the first- half, they could not unlock the a resilient Beddau defence. Beddau also tried to move turnover ball but they also could not shake off the Sports cover, consequently it was the single try and conversion that separated the teams at half time.  The Sports had tried to settle into a pattern of play with their forwards standing off to run from the periphery of the rucks and mauls where Mackenzie Dent , Chloe Gant and Ben King were effective on times and when their backs moved the ball, they failed to make the final pass to wing Jack Morgan who always looked dangerous whenever he had the ball in hand. Beddau were also very effective at the counter ruck and when they tried to run the ball Thomas Coles, Connor Jones , Chloe Gant, Mackenzie Dent, Mollie Prance, Iestyn John and Jodie Keane put in the tackles to keep the away team pinned in their half. All told the Sports put in a significant forty four tackles in the first half in what was  a very industrious effort. 

With Beddau gaining confidence , the Sports needed to make a positive start to the second half. Beddau did not follow the script and straight from the kick off flanker Corey Thomas gathered and ran straight back at the Sports to take play into their half. The Sports stopped the attack and secured possession at the ruck before Callum Lewis linked with Connor Jones who rounded the remaining defenders to score , again running in under the posts for Ieuan Pilliner to slot the easiest of conversions.

 Sports Ben King fielded the next kick off and made a direct run before passing to Mason Balmer  but another counter ruck from Beddau saw them rob the ball from the Sports, they then ran back at the Sports , wing Tom Chick disrupted the attack with a couple of tackles but Beddau kept attacking to take play up to the twenty two where they were awarded a scrum. From the scrum flanker Corey Thomas, on a loop, bust the defence to score  the try and with the conversion the gap narrowed to 14 – 7.

On receiving the kick off, Beddau looked to run from deep when they made some early ground, From the next phase of play they looked to go again but good Sports pressure forced a knock on for flanker Connor Jones to snap up the loose ball and see his way through to the line to score his third try and with another conversion the Sports fourteen point lead was restored. .

Beddau then opted to change tactics and go for the kick and chase which were efficiently dealt with by full back Callum Jones. Beddau were however determined to narrow the gap and flanker Corey Thomas bust through the Sports defence for a try with almost the last play of the game , the conversion attempt failed for the Sports to register another hard earned win 21 -12.

Under Fifteens

The Under Fifteens secured a fine 29 – 10 win over Dunvant in the Ospreys cup at  Newbridge Fields. The Sports overcame a spirited Dunvant side with disciplined pressing in defence and a willingness to take on the opposing forwards through their pick-and-go game. Both teams played the game in the right spirit, but it was the Sports' desire to run the ball from all parts of the field that had the greatest impact.

Bridgend Sports points were secured with tries from Rhys Vaughan (2), Zac Morris and Mac Francis (2). The conversions were kicked by Charlie Tomalin Reeves and Sam Gardner. The Man of the Match was awarded to Mac Francis.

Under Sixteens

The Under sixteens had a tough encounter against Gorseinon at home, but full credit goes to this side who keep turning up week in week out. They are a team with great heart.