Three Cardiff Try’s in the opening 20 minutes laid the foundations for a Cardiff bonus point win against Brynley Toms and his Bedwas Rugby teammates who battled hard ‘til the end and were unlucky not to score a fourth and bonus point winning Try.
Cardiff would defeat Bedwas 35 - 17.
The game opened with both sides defending well and some kicking the ball deep to allow full backs time to clear. It was the home side who opened the scoring on 7 minutes with full back Tom Williams given time and space to drift through the Bedwas defense. Outside half Gareth Thompson duly converted.
Eight minutes later from a line out deep in the Bedwas half Morgan Allen doubled the home side’s advantage with a strong carry to the try line, Thompson again converted.
Bedwas tried to get back into the game but midway through the half another line out deep in Bedwas territory saw the ball moved quickly to inside center Ben Thomas to run in, throw a dummy and cross under the sticks. Thompson once more adding the extras.
Bedwas responded almost immediately and following a break from Adam Williams the ball was moved down the right with inter passing from Luke Crane and Connor Edwards to see the latter cross for a try out wide. Joseph Scrivens’ conversion was successful despite the narrow angle.
Five minutes later a series of drives by the Bedwas pack earned Bedwas a second try as James Richards was driven over under a pile of bodies for a try; Scrivens’ conversion attempt drifted across the posts.
Further Bedwas attempts were denied by a determined Cardiff defense.
Cardiff scored their fourth and bonus point winning try on 50 minutes as center Will Rees-Hole got over for a try again converted by Thompson. Bedwas countered with sustained pressure but the Cardiff defense held out until the 70th minute when Ben Thomas got on the end of a neat grubber kick to win the race to the ball. Replacement Steffan Jones added the extras.
With fresh legs on the field Bedwas mounted a series of attacks which eventually brought the reward of a try as replacement scrum half ducked under would be tacklers to cross for a try. With three minutes of stoppage time remaining Joseph Scrivens hurriedly took the conversion (and missed) in the hope that Bedwas might still salvage something from the game.
Bedwas continued to attack deep in the Cardiff half as they sought the fourth try and despite great endeavor they were unable to breach the home defense and thus no reward for their efforts.
Saturday, February 16, 2019
Bermuda Defeat Princeton Tigers at the Sports Center
Conor McGlynn Scoring the First Try
IslandStats.com
Local Rugby took a back seat as the wet and windy conditions greeted Bermuda and visiting Princeton Tigers as the Bermuda National team walk off with a well-deserved 43 -0 victors over a spirited Princeton side.
Bermuda forwards began to get the upper hand with some stellar driving mauls.
A promising attack by Jamie Baum resulted in a Penalty which they knocked into the corner. Off the ensuing line-out Bermuda drove forward and Conor McGlynn touched down for the opening score, but Paul Kelly missed the out wide conversion for Bermuda to hold the 5 - 0 lead.
Bermuda settle down and went through some good phases before going to the driving maul off an attacking line out- McGlynn benefitted from the tight drive and touched down for his second of the game, Kelly was able to Convert to give the hosts a 12 - 0 lead.
With their tails up Bermuda had a fine sweeping attack down the wing which saw a grateful Dustin Archibald dive in after a nice interplay between Mikel Dill and Kia Edwards opened up a flagging Princeton defense, Kelly made the difficult Conversion as Bermuda extended the lead to 19 – 0.
Bermuda continued to get the upper hand after a fine break by Alex Brown offloaded to Dill who scampered in to score a Converted Try. Bermuda went into the half with a commanding 26 - 0 lead.
Bermuda showed great skills at the start of the second-half with a deft kick through by Kelly which was neatly picked up by Dan Cole one-handed before offloading back to Kelly for the unconverted Try for Bermuda to lead 31 - 0.
Bermuda continued to dominate and after a good counterattack by Stephen Smit the ball was quickly recycled to the burly McGlynn who scored his third Try of the day for the extended lead by another five points taking the scoreline to 36 - 0.
Bermuda continued to show their superior class with an 80m attack off a defensive scrum. Smit made a lovely inside pass to Alex Brown who then pop to the ever supporting Baum, Baum galloped in from 50 yards out for a Converted Try to make it 43 - 0.
The Princeton Tigers never gave up and fought valiantly to the end.
Bermuda National Team Coach Jamie Barnwell was philosophical about the lop-sided win stating, “The win will be confidence building and breaks the losing streak - it’s the first win for some national team players in over a year.”
The win will surely serve as a good build up for the upcoming International with Bermuda taking on Jamaica at NSC on March 9th.
Sunday, February 10, 2019
Denton Hurdle Memorial Rugby 2019
IslandStats.com
Teacher Rugby Football Club hosted the Annual Denton Hurdle Memorial matches at the National Sports Center.
The Teachers won the 2nd Team Ladies match 20 – 0 over The Rest, the Teachers would get 2 Try’s from Andrea Peets, to go along with single Try’s from Sara Cross and Kate Taylor.
The Teachers 1st Team Ladies would edge The Rest 12 – 10, the Teachers Ladies would get a Penalty Try and Conversion, while Lauren Rothwell would add a Try, Nya Heyliger would score 2 Try’s for The Rest.
An Experienced Teachers Men’s 2nd Team defeated a much younger The Rest team 32 – 26. The Teachers got Try’s from Andre Landy, Alvin Harvey, Richard Boyde, David Porter, Andrew Hooks and Brian Desmond, with Landy kicking a Conversion. The Rest would get Try’s from George Peets, Marcus Rewan, Kayden King and Jake Field, with Connor Summerville kicking 2 Conversions and Peets kicked the other.
In the Denton Hurdle Memorial main game The Rest defeated the Teachers 36 – 13. The Rest got a Penalty Try, with Conor Mcglynn, Bennet Gibson, Peter Dunkerley, Jamie Baum and Scott Clarke would all add a Try each. The Teachers got a Try from Kai Edwards, while Conor McGowan would kick 2 Penalties and a Conversion.
Saturday, February 09, 2019
Toms & Bedwas Win Big Over Rivals Bargoed
Toms Scores His Try
IslandStats.com
Brynley Toms and his Bedwas Rugby teammates gave their survival hopes a huge boost with a complete team performance from 1 to 15 as they thrashed local rivals Bargoed 52 – 7 to earn a bonus point win.
On a windy evening punctuated with heavy showers Bedwas kicked off in to the strong wind but started at a fast tempo registering the first try of the evening after only four minutes.
Fly half Jacob Chilcott ghosting past a defender to set up Adam Williams to crash over for a Try. Joseph Scrivens added the extras, no mean task against such a strong wind.
Scrivens added a penalty goal as Bedwas continued to dominate. Toms increased the Bedwas lead after 20 minutes as he used his size to bulldoze over the line, Scrivens again converted to make it 17 – 0.
Bargoed hit back with a Try against the run of play as a Chilcott clearance kick was charged down and Bargoed full back Julian Mogg was adjudged the winner of the race to dot the ball down, Callum Jones successfully converted to pull them within ten.
Bedwas were in no mood to roll over and dominance up front saw the Bargoed pack splinter under pressure and the referee immediately awarded a penalty Try.
With the wind at their backs for the second half Bedwas wasted no time in securing the 4 Try bonus point from a catch and drive, captain Alun Rees the last off the whitewash to claim the try. Scrivens kept up his 100% kicking record by adding the conversion.
Replacement Jonathan Davies was next over the white line as Bedwas put the game to bed with 30 minutes left to play, Scrivens again converting.
With the game in the bag Bedwas made a raft of changes with fresh legs coming on.
Bargoed secured some territory but could not penetrate a well-organized defense and Bedwas increased their lead on 68 minutes courtesy of a second penalty Try as again the Bedwas forwards outmuscled their opponents.
Bedwas were reduced to fourteen men on 70 minutes as a rare Bargoed attack was snuffed out illegally and Ryan Davies trudged off for an enforced rest. The remaining 14 were in no mood to yield and no further scores came whilst the team were a man down.
Bedwas wrapped up proceedings in the final minute as Lewis Bowden intercepted a tired pass on the visitors try line. Scrivens’ conversion completed the scoring.
Thursday, February 07, 2019
Buccaneers To Honor Two Fallen Teammates
IslandStats.com
A youthful Bermuda Buccaneers Rugby Team will be calling themselves Stephen Select during Las Vegas Invitational.
The Las Vegas Invitational is the largest Rugby Tournament in North America and will take place February 28th - March 3rd, 2019 and will be played alongside the USA Sevens international rugby tournament held annually in Las Vegas.
The Bermuda Team will take to the field this year in memory of Adrian Hassell and of course Stephen Edwards.
The Stephen Select will be competing in the Men’s Open Division.
Hassell and Edwards were school mates at the Berkeley Institute, they were both part of the Bermuda Under 19 National team and the best friends.
Unfortunately they both died one day apart in tragic accidents 4 years apart, Edwards on the December 31st 2015 and Hassell on January 1st, 2019.
The players will embark on a mission to raise funds for the tour by way of a community clean up on February 24th.
