Dunvant Youth at bare bones to face tough Taibach

With none of our 1st Team youth players available we were down to the bare bones and the scratch team had new Captain Sam Gough volunteering to fill a vacancy in the second row, fellow centre Ricky Purcell did likewise in the back row, and last season’s scrum half Jamie Fletcher played at hooker!
As befits Taibach, it turned out to be a very physical game with both sides going at each other hammer and tongs and it was very satisfying to see a very inexperienced Youth team giving as good as they received. The home pack were supplying plenty of ball which the backs used to good avail and after a Joshua Hamer penalty it was fitting that Sam Gough was on hand to support a storming drive by the forwards and burst over for a try. Against a typically fiery Taibach team this was an excellent start but gradually Dunvant found themselves under constant attack and despite some brave defence had to concede two tries which allowed Taibach to take a four point lead at the interval. A revitalised Dunvant team took the game to their opponents and started using every opportunity to run and this strategy paid off when swift handling inside their own half released full back Aled White to speed away before putting in a beautifully judged chip and regather to storm over by the posts. With Joshua Hamer adding the two conversion points Dunvant were now in the lead and were unlucky when centre Nicky Charlier was harshly penalised for a double movement whilst in the act of scoring. At this point, Taibach brought on fresh legs and immediately added the energy that Dunvant couldn’t cope with. In spite of some heroic defence the pressure was telling and one could visibly see Dunvant tiring after the superb effort they had put in, and it was no surprise when Taibach regained the lead after a couple of close scrums and then right at the death scoring in the corner. Once again, the coaches had been rewarded by an excellent performance which we hope will be a catalyst for the rest of the season.