Eight teams took to the field at Llandarcy yesterday afternoon for an action packed day of rugby to close out the 2018/19 Ospreys Cup Season. But which teams were successful?
Since kicking off in late September there has beenplenty of on field action in the U15s Viessmann Ospreys Cup with tight games and great wins for teams along the way. But all the action came down to one thing, Finals Day, which took place at Llandarcy Academy of Sport on Sunday.
Eight teams, hundreds of spectators, four games and silverware at stake!
U15s Shield Final – Fall Bay RFC v Waunarlwydd RFC
An evenly matched game to kick off our U15s Finals Day at Llandarcy. Waunarlwydd keeping themselves in the action with 3 penalties but with two converted tries Fall Bay led 14 – 9 at half time.
Waun came out fighting in the second half and put pressure on the Gower based side, they crossed the whitewash but the try was disallowed and the game settled slightly. However it wasn’t too long before Waunarlwydd found the try line again, their conversion attempt hit the posts to draw the scores 14 all.
Solid defensive efforts from both teams held up the opposition but eventually Fall Bay found the gap and slipped over for an unconverted try. Despite incredible pressure from Waunarlwydd in the dying moments, Fall Bay held strong to claim the victory.
FT: Fall Bay RFC 19 – 14 Waunarlwydd RFC
U15s Cup Final – Abercrave RFC v Trebanos RFC
As expected it was an exciting and competitive clash in the Cup Final. With a try apiece in the early stages on the game, it was only the boot of Abercrave keeping them ahead with their conversion and penalty attempts successful unlike Trebanos’.
A strong run secured Abercrave a second converted try and Trebanos a yellow card. But the team in blue stayed in the game, swiftly securing themselves a penalty and when Abercrave received a red card they took advantage to score a converted try. Meaning at half time Abercrave’s lead dropped to just two points, at 17 – 15.
Within minutes of the start of the second 40 Trebanos continued to make the most of their extra man as they powered over for a try that went unconverted but still gained them the lead.
Trebanos then found themselves on the wrong side of the referee and went back down to 14 men themselves as they were shown a yellow card, Abercrave missing the resulting penalty kick.
However Abercrave’s heads were up and some lovely teamwork saw them passing the ball up and down the line before spotting the gap in Trebanos’ defence to slide over to take the lead. Their successful conversion extending it further.
Despite another yellow card for Abercrave, Trebanos couldn’t manage another score and Abercrave continued their Ospreys Cup unbeaten streak to get their hands on the silverware.
FT: Abercrave 24 – 20 Trebanos
U15s Plate Final – Cwmafan RFC v Pontrhydyfen RFC
The third game of the day was another fantastically close match up between the two neighbouring sides, providing the crowd with a most entertaining game.
A great run by Cwmafan put them in position to power over the line and despite a difficult angle for the conversion their 10 slotted it between the post. The scorers were straight back up attacking Pontrhydyfen’s defence but knocked on over the try line. A missed penalty attempt for Cwmafan the only other chance at points in the opening half hour.
With ten minutes remaining in the first half Pontrhydyfen found their way to the danger zone for the first time and were straight over. A great conversion equalling the scores.
Cwmafan scoring a converted try and Pontrhydyfen a penalty in the final moments of the first 40 to take the scores to 14 – 10 in Cwmafan’s favour at the break.
Pontrhydyfen came out firing in the second half and soon crossed the line to take the lead, the successful conversion taking them further ahead. However it was a lead they couldn’t hold on to for long as more solid work from Cwmafan saw them across the try line. Despite their conversion hitting the posts they had re-taken the lead. A successful penalty kick a few minutes later saw them extend it to 5 points.
In the dying moments Pontrhydyfen repeatedly attacked the opposition. Cwmafan weathered phase after phase of powerful play, giving away numerous advantages to their local rivals as they tried to protect their try line and lead. However the bit was between Ponty’s teeth and eventually they burrowed through to score right below the posts. The resulting conversion an easy boot through the sticks to secure Pontrhydyfen a final play win.
FT: Cwmafan RFC 22 – 24 Pontrhydyfen
U15s Bowl Final – Swansea Uplands RFC v Nantyffyllon RFC
The final game of the day was set to be another equally matched cracker with two solid teams facing off against each other to bring the event to a close. However it was all Swansea Uplands to begin with as they scored three converted try in quick succession.
Nantyffyllon had a few moments of brilliance but just couldn’t seem to make their efforts count and soon found themselves trapped back in their own half and instead conceded a fourth converted try.
In the final moments on the first half, Nanty came back into the game and were camped on their oppositions try line, but just couldn’t find the necessary gap and at the break were trailing 28 – 0.
The second half was much of the same as Swansea Uplands swiftly scoring another three tries, one of them successfully converted.
Despite the scores mounting up against them the attitude shown by Nantyffyllon was exemplary, their heads never going down and constantly trying their hardest in both attack and defence. Unfortunately despite however long they spent in their oppositions 22 the Bridgend based side just couldn’t make it count.
Instead a further two tries came for the Swansea side and with one converted, they reached half a century by the end of the game.
FT: Swansea Uplands RFC 50 - 0 Nantyffyllon RFC