Fixture

Dowlais VS Porth 17/09/2022 Match Report

Score:

Dowlais: 18

Porth: 29

A well-fought but quite certain defeat this week for Dowlais in their first cup match of the season at home against Porth.

Having played many a close match against these particular opponents over the years before being separated by league shuffling, a close, even game was expected for this particular bout, a prediction that for most of the game turned out to be true.

This could be seen as early as the opening quarter of the first half, where before even passing into the double-digit minutes, both sides managed to kick a penalty to get their first points on the board, Porth first, followed by Dowlais shortly after, with the latter’s being kicked by Evan Thomas.

From there, most of the first half would unfold into a very closely matched back-and-forth of offense and defence, with the ball constantly jumping between halves and twenty-twos. From this exchange, the home side would initially be the one to come out on top, scoring an excellent – albeit unconverted – try touched down by Ben Thomas.

In what was seemingly becoming a trend for this game, Porth would soon strike back with an unconverted try of their own, bringing the sides even once again.

However, despite what these first few strikes on the score board might lead one to believe, this back-and-forth of points didn’t continue the same way for the rest of the half, as Dowlais’ try would be their final points of the first forty minutes. Conversely, Porth would manage to kick two more penalties before the half came to a close, bidding the first half farewell with a 14-8 lead.

Despite what this shift might lead one to believe however, the back-end of the half wasn’t all that different to the beginning. The ball still often switched between both sides, and both twenty-twos were subject to many an attack, just ones that didn’t end up with the ball behind the try line. Amongst all of this, some poorly timed penalties just managed to give Porth a modest lead.

But the home side remained optimistic as the second half dawned, and surely enough, the first half opened in much the same way as the last had ended, and although they didn’t find themselves behind the try line, it looked as though the home side were at least going to thin the point gap a little bit with an early penalty.

However, the kick painfully bounced off the right post, leaving the gap the same as it had been. Shortly after, Porth would score another unconverted try, pushing their lead up to 19-8. Dowlais would manage to clamber back up towards them for a bit with a successful penalty, this time kicked by Sion Martin, but the visitors’ lead was restored shortly after by another penalty of their own, bringing the score to 22-11.

And this is where the score would sit for quite a while, as the attacking efforts of both sides seemed to quiet down. Things weren’t looking good for the home side going into the final stretch of the game, that was until one of their attacking efforts finally managed to break through and get them a try, this time both scored and converted by Sion Martin.

With Porth’s lead reduced to only four points, hope sprung up that one last try would earn Dowlais a comeback victory. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite pan out that way, as Porth would end the game with one last converted try, pushing their lead out of sight once again to a final score of 29-18.

Despite the unfortunate result, as stated, most of the game was actually quite even, with the boys showing some great defensive grit at points and demonstrating some impressive passing and ball handling skills in their many attacking efforts, especially early on. It’s just unfortunate that they were often stopped just short of the try line.

Unfortunately, penalties also undoubtedly played a role in Porth’s eventual lead and victory, so that could certainly be something to work on too.

Hopefully the boys can iron out these issues and refine the positive points of this performance for their first victory of the season when they play Senghenydd at home next week.