Fixture

Dowlais Vs Nelson 02/11/2024 Match Report

Score:

Dowlais: 27

Nelson: 38

A disappointing loss for Dowlais this week, at home against Nelson.

Dowlais would start the match almost immediately under the pump and under pressure by Nelson’s offence, an offensive that, despite their best efforts, would eventually lead Nelson to an early converted try and an early lead of 0-7 after just five minutes.

Following that explosive beginning, the match would slow down for a while and settle into a back-and-forth between both sides, with Nelson doing their best to extend their early lead, and Dowlais fighting with all that they had to close it.

As the first quarter of the match came to an end, the latter’s efforts would finally bear fruit, as Dowlais managed to break through for their own first try of the match, touched down by Conor Murphy. Although this first score would unfortunately go unconverted, the home side had nonetheless managed to erase a good chunk of the visitors’ lead, bringing the score to 5-7.

For most of the remainder of the first half both sides would remain more or less even with each other, with the score sitting close to equal and both teams being just a single try away from taking control of the match.

Although Nelson would push ahead a little bit shortly after Dowlais’ try with a penalty, bringing the score to 5-10, Dowlais would pull things back with one of their own just a few minutes later, bringing the game back to just a two-point difference at 8-10.

As half-time approached in the final ten minutes of the half, it was still comfortably anyone’s game, as both sides continued to put up a more or less equal fight.

For a moment, it seemed as though this balance would be carried into the second half, and that supporters would have to wait until then to see which way the match would turn.

But unfortunately for Dowlais, they wouldn’t have to wait that long.

In the dying five minutes of the half, Nelson would break through for their second converted try of the match, bringing the score to 8-17.

Now, conceding a try and losing their long stalemate just before half-time already seemed bad enough for Dowlais, but before that final whistle could sound, their standing would continue to get worse.

Hot off the heels of their second try, with less than five minutes to go until half-time, Nelson would charge back into Dowlais’ twenty-two, and despite the long stretch of time that the home side had previously managed to last holding the visitors off between their first and second tries, unfortunately, their defence would begin to buckle, taking them back to defending on their own try-line once again.

And sadly, this lightning offensive would result in a penalty try for Nelson, extending their lead to a daunting 8-24 in the dying moments of the half, where the score would sit until the half-time whistle blew.

For Dowlais, it was an unfortunate, frustrating end to what had otherwise been a solid half – a close stalemate broken at the final stretch – leaving them staring down a sizeable score gap going into the second half, one that they’d need to strike at quickly if they wanted any chance of getting back in the game.

And to the boys’ credit, they did just that.

Similarly to how the visitors had done at the start of the first half, Dowlais came into the latter forty minutes swinging with an offensive charge of their own, one that would net them an excellent early try, driven over by Shane Chambers and converted by Ioan Pritchard.

Having brought the score to 15-24 and wiped out a significant chunk of Nelson’s lead before even ten minutes had passed, hopes and spirits began to soar, as it really began to seem as though a great comeback could be on the cards.

But unfortunately, Dowlais’ momentum from this early success would be short-lived, as practically straight from the following kick-off, they would find themselves backed into their twenty-two once again.

Agonisingly, this would lead to yet another converted try for Nelson, and to the score climbing to 15-31. Less than five minutes after their explosive first, Dowlais were right back to square one, and Nelson now had a bonus point under their belt.

Unfortunately, this exchange would usher in something of a pattern for the rest of the half – a different kind of back-and-forth.

Around ten minutes after this unfortunate setback, Dowlais would manage to break through for yet another, albeit unconverted try, touched down by Chad Powell, clawing back against some of Nelson’s lead and bringing the score to 20-31.

But once again, before they could get any more points on the board or get any closer to reaching the lead that they’d been chasing all game, Nelson would score again.

It didn’t happen as quickly this time around, but surely enough, as the game entered its final ten minutes, Nelson would inch ahead once again with yet another converted try, bringing the score to 20-38.

But to boys’ credit, even though the comeback victory that they’d been holding out hope for across the entire second half now seemed out of reach, they kept on pushing.

And just a few short minutes after Nelson’s final try, these efforts would be rewarded with one last converted try of their own, scored and converted by Ioan Pritchard.

Not only would this last push bring the score to its final resting place of 27-38, but it would also net the boys a very well-deserved bonus point of their own.

While Dowlais would keep on fighting for the remaining few minutes in hopes of getting one last try and securing a second bonus point for themselves, ultimately, nothing would come from these final efforts, leaving the match off at a final score of 27-38, a victory for Nelson, with a bonus point for both sides.

Overall, this was a rather disappointing result this week, not due to lack of effort on Dowlais’ part, but moreso because of how even the game felt for much of its duration, and how that evenness just isn’t reflected in the final score.

In many ways, for most of its duration, the match was a more or less equal one. Both sides were only two points apart from each other for much of the first half, and the second half could effectively be described as one long back-and-forth of tries.

For the majority of the match, I think that Dowlais performed very admirably, even managing to score one more try than their opponents in the second half, and managing to pull off some excellent tries throughout the entire match for that matter.

In many ways, this match deserved to be a much closer one than what the final score shows.

The real problem area for this match, and the moment where, in hindsight, everything sort of fell apart, was the very end of the first half.

After holding out well and managing to keep up with their opponents for a large chunk of the half, Dowlais crumbled, and ended up giving away fourteen points in the span of less than five minutes.

If the boys had managed to just keep it together until half-time, or even if they’d only conceded one try instead of two, then the second half, and the result of the match as a whole could have been a much closer, and perhaps much different one.

But with all of that being said, even though they weren’t quite able to take the lead in the end, and even if they may have conceded too many tries along the way, Dowlais’ efforts throughout the second half, and the three excellent tries that they scored in particular, were still very admirable.

Once again, even though the final result didn’t pan out in the way that they’d been hoping for, Dowlais showed a great deal of grit and character to keep on fighting to the very end in the way that they did, a string of efforts reflected in their well-earned, hard-fought bonus point.

We’ll have to see if Dowlais can take the lead of the match next week, when they play Newport High School Old Boys away.