Fixture

Dowlais VS Blaenavon 18/02/2023 Match Report

Score:

Dowlais: 15

Blaenavon: 16

An unfortunate loss on the verge of an excellent comeback this week for Dowlais with a 16-15 loss at home to Blaenavon.

Despite the neck and neck final score, Dowlais would spend much of the first half under heavy pressure and lagging quite a bit behind the visitors. The opening quarter would be one heavily spent in Dowlais’ half, with the home side making very little progress on the attacking front, the boys seeming to constantly find themselves in tough spot after tough spot while being unable to break through.

This early onslaught wouldn’t be catastrophic, but would still be enough to give Blaenavon a respectable lead. The first strikes on the score-board for Blaenavon and the game as a whole would come from an early penalty kicked by the visitors to start them off at a 3-0 lead, one that would mark the start of a very clinical and effective kicking game for them.

Eventually, Dowlais’ valiant defence would fall to the Blaenavon assault, with the visitors touching down underneath the posts for an easy seven points, rising them up to an unnerving 10-0 lead.

This would be the last of Blaenavon’s points for the half, and while the score difference was by no means unsalvageable, it seemed clear to both players and supporters alike that Dowlais needed to score next to have any chance of closing the gap and pulling ahead.

While Dowlais managed to defend admirably to keep Blaenavon from extending their lead further over the next ten minutes, they showed little success in securing any points of their own. While managing to mostly keep things steady and preventing Blaenavon’s lead from blowing out of control was certainly important, as the clock closed in on the final ten minutes of the first half, the importance of getting something of their own on the board to thin the gap and to take into the second half only grew more apparent.

Thankfully, something of the sort would finally come for Dowlais as the half winded down to its conclusion, with an excellent display of passing and ball-handling and a wonderful run down the wing finally earning Dowlais a try and their first points of the game, touched down in the corner by Will Thomas.

Although the try went unconverted, Dowlais had managed to eat away at half of Blaenavon’s lead in one go, setting them only five points apart, with a score of 10-5. Although Blaenavon would attempt to strike back in the final minutes of the half, managing to keep Dowlais in their twenty-two for a stressful few minutes, the home side managed to hold out, taking the 10-5 score into half time.

With the visitors’ score now only a try away, morale was high going into the second half.

But despite the fire from the Dowlais fifteen upon returning to the pitch and the very close score that could easily be swung one way or another, the second half wouldn’t see any big scores or tries for the majority of its duration. Instead, most of the additions to the score board would come in the form of penalties, with both sides engaging in something of a back and forth.

Blaenavon kicked the first penalty, then Dowlais got one, kicked by Sion Martin, then Blaenavon got another one. As Blaenavon led with a score of 16-8 and Dowlais stepped back for yet another penalty of their own, it seemed as though the kick would simply even up the gap again, but tragically, a bounce right off of the left post would thwart the idea and leave Dowlais eight points down.

Similarly to the first half, as the second half began to reach its final stretch, an increasing pressure began to mount for Dowlais to score before it was too late and Blaenavon’s lead became too much to close.

And also similarly to the first half, a try would finally come for the home side after a long wait, with another excellent play, touched down and converted by Cameron Trowbridge taking them from being eight points down to a painfully close single point gap.

Emotions flared high as Dowlais returned for the kick-off, with victory seemingly only a hair away. Anything would do it, a penalty, a drop-goal or a try, they just needed something, and for a moment, it looked like they would have it.

From the Dowlais half, the beginnings of another excellent move began to play out, passes and offloads taking the ball in Dowlais’ hands from their twenty-two, to the halfway line, right to edge of the Blaenavon twenty two.

It seemed like another try and an unbelievable comeback was on its way, but unfortunately, a missed pass at the final stretch would bring the play to its end and with it, Dowlais’ chances of victory. Shortly after, the match came to an end, a painfully close 16-15 victory to Blaenavon.

Even though their comeback never quite came to be, Dowlais still showed a lot of admirable spirit this week, in defence, in being able to score the tries that they did and in being able to come back into the game like they did at all. All of those elements are definitely things to be proud of.

It’s in the smaller details where Dowlais ultimately failed this week. With such a miniscule gap separating their scores in the end, it’s hard not to notice how one less penalty to Blaenavon or managing to get one of our own unsuccessful kicks between the posts would have been just enough to win it, so once again, the boys could do to sort out their discipline to stop giving away these additional points.

But regardless, in the end, Dowlais’ performance managed to secure them a losing bonus point, so they at least don’t have to walk away empty-handed.

While Dowlais will have no game next week, due to Wales’ Six Nations clash with England, they’ll return the following week to head on over for a clash of their own against Bedlinog.