Fixture

Mold RFC | 1st Team 29 - 20 Caernarfon RFC | 1st Team

Match Report
23 April 2017 / Team News

Mold 29. Caernarfon 20

 

Caernarfon will be a little aggrieved with themselves for letting this game slip from their grasp at the death and therefore give Bala renewed hope of being able to snatch the third place league slot from them when they next meet. Mold on the other hand could and should probably have shown more composure to have ensured a far more comfortable path to victory.

The opening exchanges were evenly enough fought with no individual stamping their authority on the game and the penalty count, courtesy of both sides, higher than expected considering the near perfect playing conditions.

Aled Jones opened the Cofi account from the tee after seven minutes but Mold forward pressure minutes later following two consecutive Cofi infringements led to a lineout take and aggressive forward rumble that saw number 8 Chris Lewis plough over to score. Centre Cai Edwards added the extras for a seven-three Mold lead with a quarter of an hour played.

The see-saw effect prevailed with Caernarfon's next foray into the danger zone again resulting in a try. From clean lineout ball and a forward drive by prop Armando Morgan the ball returned to the blind side and with a perfectly timed pass from Aled Jones, centre Adam Thomas split the static defence to restore the Cofi lead that was again improved upon by the standoff. The absence of a few Cofi stalwarts could possibly have been responsible for the lack of concentration that saw Mold almost immediately regain the lead. Active replacement fullback Jack Martin gathered and charged through the defence before finding wing Laurence Jones at hand to run in over the final twenty meters to score a good opportunist try. Edwards maintained the 100% strike rate from the tee.

Another Mold forward drive crossed the try line but the grounding was prevented and Martin once again caused chaos before play was brought back for a lineout. The Cofis, via Gruff Ifor and Cai Jones nearly squeezed in at the corner to draw the first half to a close.

Mold began the second half with the slope and with more urgency. They soon got their reward following an infringement that prevented the quick taking of a penalty. From the resultant touch finder, a simple front of  lineout move saw prop Rob Griffiths charge down the tramline to score. The following ten minutes saw Mold gain the ascendency with standoff Tom Davies playing well, especially when choosing to execute some telling lengthy touch finders. However, before they were able to capitalise, one dropped ball in midfield led to eagle eyed Cofi wing Dylan Gwyn sweep up and outsprint all to score and once again afford Aled Jones another conversion. Minutes later he stepped up to the tee again to convert a lengthy penalty with plenty to spare and nudge the Cofis into a one point lead.   

Mold still had twenty five minutes to seek a riposte and their cohesive forward drives were expected to be their saviour, however they made heavy weather of the comeback and Caernarfon were not duly troubled until the final minutes. Again, it was an uncalled transgression that led to Mold camping in the danger zone and it was fullback Martin that charged from midfield to within yards of the line before being able to pop up the ball to on rushing Ryan Kirby who extended beyond the line, much to the approval of the Mold faithful with three minutes to play. Cai Edwards's conversion meant that Caernarfon had a six point margin to overcome but in their final desperate bid to regain the ball they even lost their losing bonus when another penalty call led to Edwards extending the lead to nine points on the final whistle.

 
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