Fixture

Spaghetti Western Time

There are matches that seem to pass really quickly but this wasn’t one of them! A match, timed using a calendar, gave us the good, bad and ugly (cue music) of rugby in Wales.

A cold, ill wind from the North, that even Noggin-the-Nog would have struggled in, was the harbinger of the match ahead.

So dear readers to the game and with Llanishen playing into the wind it was going to need stout hearts to repel the opposition. To begin with defence was resolute and attacking opportunities were looked for but once the ball was lost a kick, using the wind, took play back into the Llanishen twenty two.

On ten minutes Llantwit Fardre scored an unconverted try but undeterred the Llanishen team continued to play running rugby which was good on the eye. Fine runs by Frank and Jonny gave the travelling fans reason to think that the second half would enable the team to score some tries.

After breaking out from their own line Llanishen moved the ball up-field  and after a penalty was conceded Tom’s kick brought the team to within two points after twenty minutes.

What could go wrong, well with chances missed the ugly raised its head. A melee in the Llanishen 22 saw both sides lose two men to red cards, the Llanishen reds for retaliation. After this the game got very s..............l..........o..............w.

The Llanishen side seemed distracted, if not a little aggrieved, and in the eight remaining minutes of the first half Llantwit Fardre scored two tries, one of which was converted.

An unsavoury end to the half but with the wind in their favour a positive result was still possible.

Half Time Llantwit Fardre 17 Llanishen 3

A good start to the second half was needed and that arrived in the form of a try. A good inside pass, from Rob, put Ross through a gap and under the posts. A point of contention arises, however, as Ross insisted it was from 50 metres, rising to 75 metres a few hours later in the back bar of the rugby club. I measured the distance and found the run to be just under 25 peco-metres so let’s call it twenty metres.

The converted try brought Llanishen within seven points but with delays for injuries and lectures on the price of fish, Barbie or Cindy dolls and our place in the cosmos the second half draaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaged.

Two penalties were exchanged before  a fine passage of play resulted in Swills going over for a try. The conversion would bring the scores level but the ball drifted tantalisingly wide.

Still time to win we all thought but maybe a lack of composure was missing and deep into the second half Llantwit scored a bonus point try. The missed conversion gave Llanishen a point but looking at the game this was an opportunity missed.

FullTime Llantwit Fardre  25  Llanishen 18

So, despondently, the team headed back down the valley to the Llanishen clubhouse and. As is often the case, the mood lightened (You’ve got to love alcohol - unless you’re teetotal obviously).

The seconds had continued their unbeaten start to the season with an end-to-end encounter against Dinas Powis away (0-0 at half time it finished 5-5 for a 3 point draw on the pools coupon – youngsters ask an older person for an explanation).

The team’s successful start to the season has been a delight to witness and to have substitutes every week must be an unusual but welcome trend. The team sit top of the league and are due to play Barry at home next Saturday.

Now to the result of the day; the Llanishen Youth Team were also unbeaten until Saturday but with a game against Premiership side, Merthyr, to continue the run was going to be difficult.

To compound the difficulty only 16 boys were available (Merthyr bringing 35 boys) it was going to be a tall order. How sweet it is and how proud the couches were as the side won 27-22! Well done lads!

Congratulations also to all the members of the Llanishen Club who ran and raised money for a variety of charities in yesterday’s half-marathon.

Not a member of the club but a great friend to a number of the boys and an ex Llanishen High School player a massive hand to Sam Fenton who, along with his girlfriend, Ilona, raised over £8,000 for ‘City Hospice’.

Massive respect to you all – so, again, we need to remember that rugby is a distraction, often enjoyable and sometimes frustrating, to the real issues we all face in life.