Fixture

The Sharks moved into the 3rd round of the bowl with a comfortable win against their old rivals at a blustery recreation ground. In a scrappy beginning both sides took a while to settle down with passes often going astray. The home team tried to use the wind to their advantage with outside half Chris Rodgers firing long kicks down the ground and the line out drive being their main route of attack. The visiting pack was powerful in defence and was able to stop the opposition drives developing. The Sharks then settled down with lewis Hughes making a lot of ground down the middle. Good work on the floor by prop Dewi Morris was followed up by lock Stephen Hopkins going close. Quick ruck ball allowed Lloyd Davies to find his outside backs and Hughes stepped his way over at the posts. Captain Gavin Richards converted. The Cardiff side responded but met a well organised defence. Flanker Paul Jones was in the thick of the action and he was hauled down inches from the line. The Sharks scored again with a powerful burst from the back of the scrum from Andrew O’Keefe. He made a lot of ground before finding Davies at his shoulder. Hughes took the move on and a neat pass after the tackle found the supporting O’Keefe who steamed over with Richards adding the extras. They increased their lead just prior to half time when a strike against the head by Clive Robinson was followed by a strong scrum surge ten meters out for O’Keefe to dab down wide out. The second half was mainly one way traffic as the visitors used the elements to dominate territory. Luke Price was strong in defence and attack and Hopkins was carrying out some terrific work at the breakdown. Another strike against the head allowed Richards to find Hughes who went over for his second from thirty meters which was again converted. Flanker Jones was working tirelessly and good hands by several players released replacement Jake Hurley who went over at the corner. Scrum half Davies was marshalling his forwards well and some delightful inter passing at close quarters by the pack opened up the defence for Hopkins to dive over. The home team were now tiring and left wing Martyn Jones picked up a loose ball in space to sprint over from the half way line. Captain Richards now split the defence with anexcellent run and he found the supporting Price who strode over with the conversion bringing up the half century. The match ended with a slicing run from Tom Hughes and some intricate passing almost allowing Robinson to squeeze over wide out. Although this was a good performance by The Sharks they know they need to keep working hard in order to improve further. The game was well controlled by Bryncethin referee Mark Jones. Meanwhile back at the Willows the Dynamore’s defeated a spirited Caerphilly second string 33:5 to move up to third in the table. A good win saw centre James Sheen cross twice with further tries from Craig Maybank, Rhys Maguire and Craig Hughes with Hughes converting four and James Whitaker replying with a try for the visitors. This week The Sharks return to league action when they entertain Cardiff Internationals 2:30 kick off at The Willows while the Dynamo’s look for a game from the fixture pool.