Fixture

The Sharks moved into the last 16 of the Swelec Bowl competition with an impressive performance against their neighbours from the Cynon valley. The match was a physical encounter played at a high tempo in front of a packed and noisy Willows stadium.

The visitors applied early pressure and attempted to put width on the ball but were nullified by a resolute home three quarter line whose line speed was impressive all afternoon. A early penalty kicked by outside half Mathew Rafferty from just inside the Sharks half saw the visitors go into a 3-0 lead. The Sharks soon settled and began to turn the screw at scrum time with the front row of Gerwyn Davies, Alan Davies and Gerwyn Morris dominating their opposite numbers. They were powered on by Gethin King and Jamie Caviel in the engine house. The Sharks sent up camp within a few meters of the try line and a number of forward drives were well defended by the visitors. A series of powerful scrums close in eventually brought their reward when a collapsed scrum left referee Alan Emanuel no alternative but to award a penalty try. Gavin Richards added the extras. Some good kicking by Craig Maybanks and Chris Davies kept the momentum with the home team.

Ynysowen were applying pressure with powerful bursts from Rhyan Williams and Caviel taking play deep inside the opposition territory. Good scrum ball fifteen meters out allowed scrum half Lloyd Davies to move the ball left. The ball reached centre Richard Addis who showed his class by drifting past his opposite number on the outside to score an excellent try. The rest of the half belonged to the Sharks as they continued to press forward. The visitors stood firm however with flanker Dan Lewis getting through a mountain of work defensively to keep the half time score at 12:3

Aberdare began to find a way into the game during the second period and gained a lot more territory. Scrum half Liam Roberts began to influence events and almost wriggled over but was thrown backwards as he was about to touch down. The pressure yielded penalties one of which outside half Mathew Rafferty struck to bring his side to within a score. Richards put in some big touch finders to give his side some respite before full back Davies almost went over wide out. Aberdare began to use their big ball carriers down the middle but the home defence was superb with Luke Price everywhere and the rest of his team mates not giving an inch. A well timed Gethin King tackle typified the effort as the tension rose and the Sharks fought for everything. The large crowd got behind the Sharks as the ferocity of the tackling and pressure on the ball at the breakdown finally gave the Sharks their reward as they won two penalties to take play away from the danger area before the referee signalled the end of the contest.

This was a full blooded match between two good teams played in a great spirit and was an excellent advertisement for the sport.

Next week the Sharks go back to league business when they travel to Cathays looking for league points to boost their promotion push.