Fixture

Dowlais Vs Bedlinog 16/09/2023 Match Report

Score:

Dowlais: 10

Bedlinog: 28

An unfortunate but thorough defeat for Dowlais this week at home against Bedlinog.

With a local derby for their third match of the season and with far less sweltering conditions to play it in, the home side were hoping for a return to their form from their first match of the season.

However, for much of the first half they were on the back foot in their own territory, almost entirely on the defensive while Bedlinog were comfortably in the attacking role. Any attempts Dowlais did get to make to cross over the halfway line were swiftly thwarted by either the opposition or what continued this week to be their own worst enemy, penalties.

But despite the overwhelming amount of possession held by Bedlinog in the opening quarter, Dowlais did a commendable job of holding the line for most of it, especially considering how close it often came to their try line.

Bedlinog could have gotten their first points on the board fairly early on in the form of two penalties, but on account of the day’s conditions not exactly being kicking-friendly ones, neither of them got over, with the first ending up closer to the touch line than it did the posts.

But as respectable as Dowlais’ defensive efforts were, their lack of luck when it came to staying out of their own half for more than a few seconds at a time meant that they were under near constant assault, an assault that eventually broke through their lines for the first try and first points of the game.

It seemed as though the third time was the charm when it came to kicking too, as Bedlinog’s conversion managed to get between the posts this time, giving them a 7-0 lead.

Following these first points, despite spending the opening quarter mostly buried in their own twenty-two, Dowlais steadily managed to shift the game more towards Bedlinog’s territory.

But despite some solid attempts, this progress didn’t yield any tries and the only points Dowlais would have to show for these efforts – and for the entire first half – came from a penalty kicked well by Sion Martin.

But even with none of their efforts managing to get over the line, the home side had still managed to bring the scores a little more even, to 7-3, with Bedlinog being reduced to only a four point lead.

However, following Dowlais’ first points, Bedlinog would steadily begin pushing them back into the depths of their own half and before long, Dowlais found themselves on the defensive yet again.

Once more, the boys managed to defend well for a time, even making it appear as though they’d be able to escape into half-time without conceding anything else.

Unfortunately however, that task became a lot harder after they were struck with a yellow card shortly before the forty minutes were up, and surely enough, in the dying minutes of the half, Bedlinog crossed behind the try line for the second time.

After another conversion, the score was brought to 14-3 and shortly after, came half time.

With the unfortunate blow of the second try and a much more daunting points gap to overcome, Dowlais needed to act quickly to take control of the game before it started to get away from them.

They certainly put in a few good attempts to start with, but just like their attempts in the first half, these early efforts yielded nothing but a penalty. However, this one was unfortunately missed.

After a rather neutral period of back-and-forth, things didn’t get any better, as another yellow card promptly put the home side back down to fourteen men.

With their reduced numbers, Bedlinog pounced at their try-line once again, and before they could get back to full numbers, a penalty try pushed the visitors’ lead even further ahead to 21-3.

With things beginning to look dire and time beginning to grow slim, Dowlais needed something quick to get back in the game.

In a moment of hope, once they got back to fifteen men, they went right back to attacking the Bedlinog line with renewed vigour, a vigour that would actually pay off this time, finally getting them their first try of the game, touched down by Will Thomas and converted by Sion Martin, bringing the score to 21-10.

But although the thinned score gap renewed some hope for a time and a couple of solid follow-up attempts on Bedlinog’s try line came after their first major success of the game, ultimately, these seven points would prove to be Dowlais’ last of the game

The attacking efforts that followed failed to gather up much momentum and before long, the tides turned back in Bedlinog’s favour.

After a long game spent on the defensive and more points in the score gap than there were minutes left on the clock, Dowlais’ defences crumbled one last time as the visitors claimed their final converted try of the game, bringing the score to its final resting place of 28-10, a bonus point victory to Bedlinog.

In the end, it turned out to be a bit of a sobering afternoon for Dowlais. Although they had a solid defensive showing considering how much of the game they spent under pressure, it ultimately ended up not mattering much as they found themselves unable to make up for the tries that they did let in.

This was of course partially down to a standard lack of offensive success, but a large amount of the blame can also be levied at discipline.

All throughout the game, penalties continued to make Dowlais’ already difficult task of closing the score gap even more of a struggle, repeatedly putting the ball back in Bedlinog’s hands and losing them plenty of hard-earned ground.

That went especially for the two yellow cards the side picked up throughout the game and the tries that promptly followed both of them. Additionally, as mentioned before, they managed to concede two penalties early on, which would have made their task of taking the lead even harder had they gone over in the end.

With nothing to show for this week, let’s hope that the boys fare better next time, as they take on their start-of-season opponents once again in the cup, away against Risca.