Bitter Sweet Pill to swallow for CIACs!
CIACs leave it late to win a hard fought victory against the visiting Gwent side.Following a good victory against the touring North Walian side the previous week, this was an opportunity for the home side to extend their winning run against the side from the South East.
From the kick off, Pill started well, forcing the CIACs back into their own 22. However, despite gaining early territorial advantage the CIACs comfortably contained the initial threat from the opposition and, from an ensuing break in midfield, it was the CIACs who were starting to put on the pressure.
The CIACs put together a series of attacking phases which slowly pushed Pill back deeper into their own half, and with the pack driving forward, led by Kiwi, Zac and Jack, Mavis eventually found a gap and pierced the defence with a short 5 meter run over the line. 5-0 CIAC’s.
With points on the board, the CIAC’s were looking confident and from the restart old head Dez soon created another chance by securing the ball in the loose and, from a quick offload to Kiwi, released Gardiner on the wing, who made good ground before unfortunately running into traffic.
However, this positive spell was sadly short-lived and it wasn’t long until it was the away side that looked more likely to score. After a quick ball from a lineout on the half way line, and sloppy tackling from the CIACs, the Pill centre made easy work of breaking through the midfield, and would’ve scored had the referee not called them back for an off the ball infringement in favour of the home side.
Unfortunately, the CIAC’s did not take heed of this early warning and after patchy period of play, Pill were eventually rewarded for their persistence and, without much of challenge, Pill inevitably broke the fragile defensive line to make it 5-5.
Fortunately for the home side the Pill defence was equally vulnerable, and it wasn’t long until it was the ones in Black and White who were pushing the opposition back, and after consistent passage of play from the forwards, CIAC top try scorer Mavis broke free and dropped over for his second of the game. With a successful conversion from Will the CIACs regained the lead at 12-5.
Some of the funniest, and sometimes disturbing, moments of game, came from watching our five foot something backline try and take down the 30 stone heavyweight in Pill’s 2nd row. Thankfully, appearances can be deceiving and it didn’t take much to topple the man monster, but, unfortunately, as our tacklers slid down the giant’s bean stalks they fully exposed the Grand Canyon beneath, a natural wonder we all could’ve done without seeing!
The match was starting to turn into a game of ping pong, and with the CIAC’s unable to put their stamp on the game, the last 10 minutes of the first half saw Pill score two almost identical tries in quick succession, as they again used width and the strength in midfield to allow their centre and wing to break the CIAC line, and take the lead 12-15.
The CIAC’s, at times, showed that they were capable of playing some entertaining rugby with a number of decisive breaks from Jason Ahmed and Andrew Copland, and just before the end of the half, a series of quick offloads again seemed to have put seasoned veteran James Gardiner through for a try but with half the field to run the winger just fell short. In the end, after an infringement from the Pill forwards, the CIACs had to make do with a penalty in front of the posts, making it honours even at 15-15 at half time.
The CIAC’s made a positive start in the second half and were again first on the score sheet. After a number of well organised phases, the CIAC’s instantly put Pill on the back foot and from some quick hands across the backline the CIAC’s went 20-15 up from a well-worked try. Sorry, due to all the excitement I didn’t see who scorer was!!
It looked like the CIAC’s had turned a corner, and despite finding themselves in their own 22 again, the defence were starting to look more resolute and after weathering ten minutes of pressure, the CIAC’s finally turned the ball and cleared the line. From here, the CIAC’s created a strong platform and with a brilliant clearance kick from 39 year old substitute James Emery, the CIAC’s quickly put them back in try scoring distance again. However, with the CIACs seemingly in no rush to exploit their territorial advantage, from a quick line-out, the ball fell into the hands of the Pill winger, who with all the space in the world ran a the length of the field to score an opportunistic try against the run of play. With a successful conversion the Pill regained the lead 20-22.
This try turned the game in Pills favour, and minutes later it was the CIAC’s who were again scrambling back. From the kick off, the ball found its way into the hands of the away team and the winger looked to be running in a for a certain try if it wasn’t for a fantastic covering tackle from Zac Williams who ran from over 50 meters to force the ball into touch just short of the try line. However, Zac’s efforts were all in vain and the subsequent line-out led to push over try from the Pill forwards, stretching Pill’s lead to 20 – 27.
The game was now starting to slip away from the CIAC’s, and with less than ten minutes left on the clock, time was running out. At this point, Jack and Saucy decided to bring some fresh legs on in Gareth Rossiter and Chad, which appeared to give the CIAC’s the impetus they needed to start a fight back. Much like their Welsh international peers, it took 75 minutes and the threat of losing to inspire the black and whites to produce the best rugby of the game.
The CIAC’s forwards, with Alan Stone, Dewi Owen and Owain Ford in the front row, drove the Pill back under their own posts leading to persistent penalties from the Pill forwards. Therefore, after seeing another powerful and controlled drive from the CIAC forwards being illegally brought down on the Pill try-line, the referee no option but to award a penalty try. This took the game to 27-27.
With only minutes left, it looked like the game was heading for a draw, but the CIACs had other ideas and could smell blood from the exhausted Gwent side. From the kick off the CIAC’s instantly hit back and were now running the Pill defence ragged in the opposition half. With CIACs dominating territory the crowd could sense a victory and, with only seconds left, the CIACs responded in kind. From a persistent attack, some quick passes through the backline opened up the gap to allow the CIACs to claim victory! Again I have to apologise, nobody seemed to see who scored the try (???), but by that point the win was all that mattered!!
On reflection, the CIACs made hard work of a game they should have won with ease. The CIACs showed at times that they have both the required power up front and the necessary flare in the backs to cause a lot of problems; however this fickle side also lacks consistency, and can all too easily allow teams to exploit basic mistakes and lack of concentration in defence. That said, with the new coaching dynamic duo in place, I’m sure this young crop of players will be a dominant force in the league next season!
Rhodri Davies
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