Fixture

Harlech 5 - 37 Abergele

This was a potential banana skin fixture for Abergele after their narrow win in the return fixture at the beginning of January, but some excellent fifteen man rugby meant they were never put under pressure by a resilient Harlech side.

The match was played under some fine conditions, if a bit cold, and Abergele kicked down the slope in the first half almost parking themselves in the Harlech half only coming out to retrieve relieving kicks from the home side. Gele were trying to break the Harlech line with close forward play and with some good breaks from the backs but the line held strong for the first fifteen minutes during which they lost lock Chris Myers to the ‘blood bin’ with a broken nose.

On fifteen minutes Gele began to build their points and try for their bonus point win. The forwards won and controlled the ball well then it was swung out to through the backs to Richie Williams on the left wing how chipped over his opposite number and won the race to score the first try. Centre Ben Jones converted and on the thirtieth and thirty-fifth minutes converted two penalties to make the score 13-0.

In the next five minutes Gele converted their dominance into two more tries the first one a carbon copy of the first with Rich Medlicott scoring then on the half time whistle, Ash Tilley broke through the forwards to score under the posts with Ben Jones converting to make the score 25-0.

Harlech started to apply their own pressure in the second half but the strong Gele defensive line was not broken but they did keep the Abergele attack at bay for the first twenty minutes before Simon Hughes was shown a yellow card for a late tackle. With a one man advantage it would have been expected for the home side to convert it into points. Abergele not only held strong but scored a great try of their own. A scrum on the left was won and the bal was swung out quickly to right winger Mike Bagnal who evaded two or three tackles to score in the corner to make the score 30-0 and secure the bonus point.

At this point coach Jimmy Waring changed the props Jon Evans and Tom Bond who had put in excellent shifts being changed for Simon Johnston and Neil Hughes. But before they had settled in Harlech broke the line from close in and scored an unconverted try for 30-5. Five minutes later with Gele back to fifteen men Rich Medlicott scored his second try after weaving hi way through several hone defenders and touching down under the points for Ben Jones to convert for 37-5. Again the coaches used this opportunity to change the two wings with Richie Williams and Mike Bagnall making way for Ryan Cunningham and the returning ’Red’ Ed Davies. There was enough time left for Ed to make a few breaks with some great hand offs on would-be tacklers although there was no more scoring and Abergele finished the game camped in the Harlech 22m area.

This was a good all round display by Abergele to take them three points clear at the top of Division Two North epitomised by man-of-the-match Llion Mortimer, relentlessness around the ruck and maul and his tackle rate. The banana skin did not appear because of the attitude and teamwork displayed by Gele throughout the eighty minutes – a testament to the hard work put in at training by players, Jimmy Waring and his coaches. However this level of play will need to be maintained for all the remaining fixtures if the promotion dream is to be achieved. It is now in Abergele’s own hands.