COBRA 107
Wrexham 0
Cobra consigned Wrexham to their heaviest ever defeat
when they comprehensively whitewashed an under strength
visiting side in mid Wales by 107-0. Wrexham
started this early kick-off game with only fourteen
players and were already leaking tries when the missing
player arrived 20 minutes later. Having
got up to full strength, the visitors then lost three
players to injury and, although they had one more
replacement on the bench, they basically ended up
playing the rest of the game with only 13 players
against 15. Cobra weren’t
particularly good, but they possessed a strong number
eight who charged through Wrexham’s stretched defence
time and time again to score tries. Although no one
stood out for the visiting side, they deserved some
praise for turning out for an early-kick-off game in mid
Wales on an England v Wales Six Nations day.
Dolgellau 71
Wrexham
5
Wrexham slumped to a
5-71 defeat at Division Two leaders Dolgellau, but at
least they managed to register their first score of the
year and also showed some improvement in the early
stages of the match. The visitors competed
well against a strong Dolgellau side on their home
ground and, although the league leaders hot top form
quickly to establish a 15-0 lead, Wrexham came roaring
back with an unconverted try to get themselves back in
the game.That try came from
prop Nick Perrin who was appearing in his 123rd
senior game and crashed over from a rolling maul that
had started at a line-out. The conversion failed and,
although the visitors tried to secure another score,
Dolgellau possessed too much class overall and pulled
away with a hatful of tries in the final quarter.
New second-row Mike
Mawyer had an outstanding debut when he came on as a
replacement in the first-half and looks set to make his
mark in forthcoming matches.
Llanidloes 50
Wrexham
0
Skipper Pete
Blakemore took a much changed side, with some new faces
in it, to Llanidloes and felt that there was a hint of
“green shoots of recovery” in their performance, despite
slipping to a 0-50 defeat. The star performer
on the day was Leighton Cox who switched from full-back
to scrum-half and played a ‘blinder’ in his new role.
With prop David Gard out through injury and hooker Nick
Perrin unavailable, Wrexham fielded a new look pack with
Brendan O’Malley and Matt Lewis propping and Danny
Wolfenden at hooker.While the visitors took
time to settle, Llanidloes started well and scored 35
points by half-time. Wrexham improved after the break
and, despite two sin binnings that left them with only
13 players at one stage, they finished strongly but
without being able to create a score. Next up will be a
visit to Dolgellau where they will be aiming to confirm
their recent improvement.
Abergele 29
Wrexham 0
Wrexham tried their best but still slumped to their 12th
successive defeat of the season when they were
whitewashed by 29-0 in their Division Two match at
Abergele. Beset by injuries,
particularly in their backline, Wrexham were forced to
field a makeshift team and soon went behind when a
forward strayed offside and Abergele kicked a penalty.
Despite some good work by flankers James Lichfield and
Phil Williams that put the home side under pressure and
resulted in opponents being yellow carded, Wrexham
couldn’t capitalise. The loss of
their main tackling centre, Pete Blakemore, with a hand
injury exposed Wrexham’s defence and presented the
Seasiders with scores that enabled them to lead by 19-0
at the break. However, the visitors looked a far better
side in the second-half with their pack pushing the home
eight around the field, forcing Abergele into a stream
of errors. Veteran outside-half
Ross Roberts used his excellent kicking skills to pin
down the Seasiders and replacement lock Ian Sanger led
by example as the game entered the final quarter.
Despite their dominance, however, they couldn’t create
any openings and Abergele were able to seal their
victory with two late scores. Coach
Rob Thomas said afterwards, “Despite the fact that we
have had to cope with so many injuries we showed
Abergele what we could do, but we just lacked the
application and concentration to turn it into points.”
Machynlleth 29 Wrexham
5
Wrexham delivered another improved performance in their
Division Two match at Machynlleth, but mistakes cost
them dear and resulted in them falling to a 5-29 defeat.
In very muddy conditions, Wrexham started well
despite the loss of lock Alan Humphreys due to a
hamstring injury in the warm-up. Joss Stott responded to
the challenge in the second-row and helped to give his
pack the momentum that enabled them to dominate the game
for the opening quarter.
Although under pressure, Machynlleth managed to fashion
a breakaway try when they capitalised on a mistake by
the visitors. That provided them with a boost of
confidence and they increased their lead to 12-0 at the
break with a try that was converted.
Wrexham, dominating the line-outs through Stott and lock
Phil Williams, piled on the pressure at the start of the
second-half and forced their way back into the game with
an opportunist try by their leading try scorer Jack
Ratcliffe. The centre intercepted a passing movement by
the home side on the half-way line and sprinted
downfield to score wide-out.
The outstanding performance of new winger James
Salisbury strengthened Wrexham’s resolve and brought out
some good performances throughout the team. The home
side, however, coped with their boggy pitch much better
than the visitors in the final quarter and were able to
create several scores that put the game beyond Wrexham’s
grasp.
In the final analysis,
Machynlleth counted themselves lucky to have won the
game after being under severe pressure for much of the
time, while Wrexham returned home with a feeling that
they are gradually turning the corner and that they can
still escape from relegation to Division Three.
Wrexham
0
Dolgellau 27
Promotion chasing Dolgellau moved up to second place in
the North Wales Division Two Championship with a 27-0
victory at Wrexham under floodlights, but they were made
to work hard for their success by a much improved and
determined home side. The return of key players like prop David Gard and full-back
Leighton Cox, together with the inclusion of good young
players like Nathan Jones and Owain Turner in the
centre, made a big difference to a hard pressed home
side. Wrexham edged the scrums and competed well in all
other areas with outside-half Ben Cheesbrough and
flanker Gareth Owen tackling superbly. Dolgellau,
fielding a fine well-balanced team, did most of the
pressing and broke the deadlock in the 24th
minute with an unconverted try by flanker Berwyn Hughes.
Then they established a 15-0 lead by half-time with a
try by number eight Dewi Thomas and a conversion by
full-back Tom Roberts, but they found it difficult to
make any further progress until Wrexham slowed when
David Gard had to depart with a knee injury. Berwyn Hughes claimed his
second-try of the game, converted by Tom Roberts,
mid-way through the second-half, although Wrexham
continued to battle away with Cheesbrough, Owen and
Turner still leading the way in defence. It wasn’t until
one minute before the end of normal time that scrum-half
Gethin Thomas broke through at pace to score the bonus
point try that secured second place in the table for a
jubilant Dolgellau.
Wrexham
5
Llangollen 42
Wrexham’s woes continued as they were knocked out of the
Swalec Bowl competition by visitors Llangollen for whom
winger Josh Wilson made a big difference as he notched
four tries in a 42-5 victory. Llangollen
included five former Wrexham veterans in their side and
their experience soon told as they put pressure on the
home scrum and worked the ball out to the wings where
Wrexham are particularly vulnerable.
A penalty by
outside-half Richard Jasper put Llangollen ahead in the
13th minute and he then added the extra
points by converting Wilson’s opening try of the game.
Wrexham came back strongly with half-backs Mike
Powell and Owain Turner unlocking the visitors defence
with a couple of neat breaks while flanker Jason Parry
caused havoc with his ball carrying charges.
In a
hectic period in the middle of the game, Powell missed a
penalty, another kickable one was spurned and then
Llangollen had a player sin-binned for successive
infringements.
The home side should have
capitalised on their one man advantage, but they failed
to raise the level of their game and were punished when
Josh Wilson ran through a half-hearted tackle to score
his second try of the game. This was followed by a try
from hooker Ben Moss, converted by Richard Jasper.
Wrexham improved in the second-half with the wind at
their backs and camped in the visitors 22 until former
Wrexham number eight Gareth Noon was sin-binned for a
late tackle. This time, Wrexham made the most of their
advantage and drove their replacement number eight Ian
Sanger over the line for a superb try, wing Jack
Ratcliffe just missing the conversion.
The home side pressed again in search on another score
but were thwarted in the 59th minute when
Jasper extended Llangollen’s lead with a long-range
penalty. As the game went into the final quarter,
Wrexham appeared to run out of momentum and the visitors
wrapped up their victory with three late touchdowns, two
of them by Wilson, and a conversion by Jasper.
Wrexham 20
Rhyl 29
High flying Rhyl
came to Wrexham fully intent on blitzing the Division Two bottom
club, but they found themselves with a real match on their hands and
had to work hard for their 29-20 bonus point victory. It
seemed too easy for the visitors when they scored in the first
minute with an unconverted try by winger Jack Hughes from a
well-executed passing movement. They soon probed again, but this
time Wrexham responded with a determination to hold Rhyl and get
back on terms, flanker Pete Blakemore and outside-half Ben
Cheesbrough inspiring their side with resolute tackling. With
the pack in good form and number eight Keir Harding probing for
openings, Wrexham pressed the visitors and were unlucky not to
succeed with a 15th minute penalty attempt. Nine minutes
later, however, centre Jack Ratcliffe reduced Rhyl’s lead to only
two points when he kicked a penalty. The home
threequarters then started to match the free flowing passing of the
visitors but a dangerous tackle on Wrexham wing Adam Jones led to a
full scale bust-up between the sides with a Rhyl player being
sin-binned. Wrexham tried hard but couldn’t make their extra man
count and had to rely on the clearing skills of replacement
scrum-half Ross Roberts when they came under severe pressure on
their line. Rhyl, back to full strength, increased their
lead deep into injury time when Jack Hughes fended off a couple of
attempted tackles to score his second try of the game. Wrexham came
back quickly, however, with a surge from Keir Harding and a fine try
from Jack Ratcliffe who converted his own try from wide-out to level
the scores at 10-10. There was a great celebration
amongst the home players only seconds into the second-half when the
irrepressible Harding forced his way over the Rhyl line to score a
try that put his side in front at last. That drew the inevitable
response from the visitors but Wrexham held them until the 51st
minute when wing Stuart Fell-Crook outstripped the cover to score a
try that was converted by full-back Rhodri Carlton-Jones. Rhyl
then had a forward sin-binned for elbowing a player in a maul, but
once again Wrexham found it difficult to make their player advantage
count. In fact they went further behind when replacement wing Sam
Brewerton scored wide out from a tap penalty move and Carlton-Jones
converted. Wrexham weren’t finished, however, and stormed upfield to reduce the
arrears to only four points with a pushover try from Keir Harding in
the 64th minute. With their pack still in good form and
Cheesbrough and centre Pete Dougan attacking well in the centre,
Wrexham certainly had a chance of overtaking Rhyl and claiming their
first win of the season. It
fell to Rhyl’s crack winger Jack Hughes to settle the issue and he
did this in style in the last few minutes when he spotted a forward
acting as a last line of defence down his right wing. He promptly
injected a great turn of pace and swept past to score a hat-trick
and match winning try although Wrexham could still be congratulated
for playing their full part in an excellent match.
Wrexham 10
Newtown 41
Wrexham slumped to the bottom of the
table with a comprehensive 41-10 defeat at Bryn Estyn Road by
visitors Newtown who were overjoyed to win their first game of the
season with a winning bonus point to add to their jubilation.
With half of their team missing on a Veterans tour of
Thailand, Wrexham pressed a number of lower team players into
service and they gave a good account of themselves for the first 20
minutes. The home side even took the lead in the 9th
minute when outside-half Sion Lloyd-Jones kicked an angled penalty
following heavy pressure on Newtown in their 22. However,
when the visitors managed to force their way into Wrexham’s half ten
minutes later, their flying centre Gary Jenkins capitalised on a
couple of defensive mistakes to claim an unconverted try. Realising
that the makeshift home threequarter line was made up of slower
forwards, Jenkins probed again in the 27th minute and
scored again, this time having his try converted by full-back Nathan
Lloyd.
Although Wrexham number eight Keir
Harding was an outstanding driving force in Wrexham’s pack and their
set scrum had Newtown trundling backwards, they couldn’t create an
opening for their backs. The visitors then increased their lead to
17-3 just before the break when the Wrexham backs failed to gather a
loose ball and hooker Matt Land pounced for a try.
Wrexham came under a lot of pressure at the start of the second-half
but managed to clear their lines until flanker Jason Parry was
sin-binned for a technical offence after 6 minutes. Newtown took
full advantage by launching their scrum-half Owain Thomas over the
home line to claim their fourth try of the game. Wrexham
refused to buckle and brought full-back Jack Ratcliffe into the game
to create openings in the Newtown defence.
The home pack forced
Newtown on the defensive and claimed their reward in the 64th
when Jason Parry was driven over the line to score a deserved try,
Sion Lloyd-Jones adding the extra points with a neat conversion.
That could have been a turning point in the game with the
score at 10-22, but a brave Wrexham side simply ran out of steam in
the final 10 minutes of the game.
Newtown took full advantage
and cemented their victory with tries by Nathan Lloyd, lock John
Blower and a hat-trick touchdown by Gary Jenkins, Lloyd adding two
simple conversions.
Rhos 38
Wrexham 0
Wrexham
were knocked out of the North Wales Intermediate Cup competition by
their local rivals Rhos who made it into the next round with a
competent 38-0 victory. Recent
injuries, with skipper Guy Bingham being notable amongst the
casualties, had forced the visitors to field an entirely new
front-row, but there was still little to choose between the sides in
an entertaining first-half that Rhos edged by 10-0.
Lock Richard Platt delivered a very mature performance in
the second-row of the Wrexham pack while flanker Peter Blakemore
tackled superbly and turned over Rhos possession on a number of
occasions. Unable to make headway, however, the visitors fell off
the pace in the final quarter and allowed Rhos to finish in style
with a flourish of late scores.
Wrexham 15
Llanidloes 17
An
injury time try and a crucial conversion by visitors Llanidloes
stole victory from Wrexham’s grasp as they went down by 13-15 in a
keenly contested North Wales Division Two game at Bryn Estyn Road.
There were problems before the start for coach Rob Thomas and
skipper Guy Bingham when centre Josh Francis had to cry-off and
scrum-half Owain Turner injured his ankle in the warm-up.
The
side had to be reshuffled but they made a good start with the home
pack dominating proceedings in the scrums and line-outs.
In the 14th minute Wrexham claimed the lead when
number eight Keir Harding drew in the Llanidloes defence from a tap
penalty move and prop Guy Bingham was on hand to take the ball and
crash over for an excellent try. Scrum-half Mike Powell kicked the
conversion and soon afterwards put his side further ahead with a
well struck penalty kick.
Although the
visitors responded with a penalty of their own, they found
themselves up against a Wrexham side determined to redeem itself
after suffering a record whitewash at Colwyn Bay on the previous
Saturday. Ben Cheesbrough, newly returned after a long spell out of
the game through injury, proved inspirational at outside-half and
flankers James Lichfield and Peter Blakemore were very impressive in
the home back-row.
In the unusually hot
conditions prevailing at Bryn Estyn Road, Llanidloes got back into
the game with an unconverted try mid-way through the second-half
although Powell then pushed his side further ahead with another
penalty. Wrexham still maintained a firm grip on the game, but that
started to evaporate when skipper Bingham was forced to leave the
field with an injury and then prop David Gard was also sidelined.
With no more replacements available, Wrexham lost their dominance
up-front and were forced to contain Llanidloes who went in search of
a winning score. As Blakemore pulled off tackle after tackle, it
looked as though Wrexham would hold on to claim their first win of
the season. But the Llanidloes pack won a late scrum in the home 22
and their outside-half broke through to score under the posts, the
match winning conversion being a mere formality.
Skipper Guy
Bingham was disappointed with the loss but was full of praise for
his team’s effort during the game. “I couldn’t ask for any more from
anyone and that performance put last week’s heavy defeat at Colwyn
Bay well behind us” he said afterwards.
Colwyn Bay 73 Wrexham 0
Wrexham suffered a record margin of defeat at the hands of Colwyn
Bay in a North Wales Division Two encounter at Brookfield Drive.
Missing several key players due to injury or unavailability,
Wrexham failed to secure possession from the line-outs and missed a
number of first-up tackles that let the Seasiders storm through for
early tries.
The visitors more than held their own in the set
scrums and enjoyed a short period of first-half domination, but they
couldn’t score and found themselves trailing by 31-0 at half-time. Flanker
Pete Blakemore delivered a Man of the Match display with constant
tackling while his back-row partner Dwayne Speakman-Jones also
covered himself in glory as he tried to stem the Colwyn Bay tide.
Skipper Guy Bingham was disappointed with his side’s
comprehensive defeat but will aim to bounce back with a stronger
side against Llanidloes at Wrexham on Saturday.
Wrexham
17 Abergele 24
Wrexham
suffered a 17-24 home defeat at the hands of Abergele on the opening
day of the new rugby season, but they impressed overall with a young
untried team and will surely improve as their Division Two campaign
progresses.
Abergele
settled well at the beginning and opened the scoring in the 4th
minute with an unconverted try in the left corner by lock Simon
Hughes. Centre Gareth Evans was off target with a difficult
conversion attempt but made up for this when he added the extra
points to full-back Chris Marsh’s try just before the end of the
first quarter.
Wrexham
maintained a high tackling rate and dominated the set scrum but some
of their tactics fell foul of the referee and they found it
difficult to make progress. That all changed in the second quarter
of the game when their young outside-half James Price and centre
Scott Jones together with flanker Troy Roberts made breaks that
started to put pressure on the visitors.
They
spurned a number of penalty opportunities as they went in search of
tries, but some woeful passes and wrong options left them without a
point for all their efforts. Abergele were under the cosh but they
still managed to increase their lead when Evans popped over a
long-distance penalty in the 30th minute.
Wrexham
turned round 0-15 down at half-time but soon started to dominate the
game again. They eventually broke through the Abergele defence in
the 60th minute when they moved the ball swiftly from
left to right for wing Mark Gasson to touch down in the corner.
Price converted from the touchline and Wrexham were back in
business.
The
visitors countered immediately with a penalty before they were fully
stretched as Wrexham piled on replacements and opened out with some
tremendous running by their backs. Wing Jack Ratcliffe was presented
with two golden opportunities to score by his centres, but
unfortunately the cover from Abergele arrived in the nick of time
and nothing ensued.
Gasson kept
plugging away on the right wing, however, and his persistence was
rewarded in the 70th minute when he squeezed in at the
corner for a fine try, Price’s conversion attempt hitting an
upright. Just when Wrexham looked as though they might rescue the
game, flanker Gareth Hughes was sent off for alleged improper use of
the boot in a ruck and Evans gave Abergele a lifeline with his third
penalty of the game.
In an
exciting finale, Wrexham applied pressure once again and claimed
their third try of the game when flanker Keir Harding powered over
in the right corner. With only four points between the sides,
Wrexham put in one final effort to produce a match winning try, but
they were penalised for an offence near the halfway line and Evans
put in a monster kick for Abergele to put the issue beyond doubt.
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