Fixture

Abergavenny travelled to Croesyceiliog on Saturday for the latest league encounter. The Abergavenny team sheet contained Connor Davies, Ryan Morgan, Matt Charles, Jordan Curran, James Trumper, Aaron Scrimgeour, Ben Main, Alex Howes, Rhob Connick, Rob Lewis, Ollie Stansfield, James Lewis, Ieuan Evans, Anthony Squire and Nathan Williams.

An away trip to Croesyceiliog has always been a testing fixture for Abergavenny and this game proved to be a very physical challenge for the visitors. Abergavenny had the majority of possession in the early exchanges, but strong Croesyceiliog defense kept them at bay. A loose Abergavenny kick gave the hosts possession on halfway, a flowing move from their three quarters resulted in the opening try of the game giving them a 5 – 0 lead. Abergavenny were soon back in the hosts 22, a penalty awarded close to the try line was quickly taken by Alex Howes, he broke the first tackle and powered his way over for Abergavenny’s first try, converted by Nathan Williams giving them the lead 5 – 7. Abergavenny continued to kick well into the corners which kept Croesyceiliog in their own half. Clean lineout ball from Jordan Curran gave Rob Lewis quality possession, he drifted inside his opponent to score the visitors second try converted by Nathan Williams. Croesyceiliog continued to try to kick their way out of defense, one such kick was collected by Nathan Williams, he showed his quality by drifting outside his man, linking up with Ieuan Evans who found James Lewis before giving the scoring pass to Ollie Stansfield for the best try of the game, extending the scoreline to 5 – 19 going into halftime.

Abergavenny continued to hold the upper hand in the second half, Connor Davies, Ryan Morgan and Matt Charles had the better of their opponents at scrum time and Rob Lewis and Nathan Williams kept kicking them deep into their own half. From a scrum penalty Alex Howes took a quick tap, passed the ball onto Ben Main who burst through the home defense to score Abergavenny’s bonus point try, converted by Nathan Williams, extending the lead to 5 – 26. Dan Beavan, Rhys Ferguson and Nathan Byrne came on to freshen up the Abergavenny team while first appearances were given to Oscar Greenland and Matt Hancock, two players from the current Abergavenny Youth team.

The game continued to be a real physical encounter with Croesyceiliog having sustained periods of pressure on the Abergavenny line, but determined defense kept the visitors try line intact. Late into the game following a strong carry by Oscar Greenland, the three quarters spread the ball wide finding Jordan Curran out on the wing, he was able to run in Abergavenny’s fifth try to conclude the scoring, giving Abergavenny a well deserved bonus point win by 31 – 5.