Fixture

A pleasant day at Fishguard, (there’s a novelty!) didn’t hide the fact that the conditions underfoot were not the best and indeed with one bad patch in particular there was a distinct possibility the game would not take place at all.

However with the home team enjoying what little wind advantage there was, the game got underway and within a minute Fishguard were in front with a fairly easy penalty awarded in front of the posts although from some distance. Five minutes a later a repeat performance with an identical kick, saw the home side six points to the good without breaking sweat.

The visitors, although struggling to gain any real advantage over a Fishguard side who were clearly enjoying the early exchanges in the difficult conditions, began to gain better possession and gradually pushed the home side onto the back foot. The momentum was stalled however when captain and hooker Dafydd Page picked up a yellow card and with the pack unbalanced, further progress was difficult.

In the final twenty minutes of the first half with the captain’s return, Saints enjoyed their best spell of the game and with better possession, leading to plenty of territorial advantage, they were always threatening to take control but could not deliver the final pass or telling move to register what would have been a deserved reward for their pressure and the six point deficit remained the difference between the two sides at the break.

This pattern of play continued into the second half and it looked that a score for the visitors must come, but ten minutes after the restart, a poor clearance allowed a counter attack with a disorganised defence missing several tackles, and much against the run of play, the home side registered the first try of the game, although a missed conversion left the result still very much in the balance.

With neither side really gaining the upper hand, stalemate looked likely to be the final outcome but with time running out in the deepening gloom a loose ball kicked on with the home side quicker to react produced the killer blow and a second try for the seagulls.

The best try of the match from second row Courtney Bowman, with time running out, was small consolation for a frustrating afternoon for the saints and despite a final stirring push when another score almost resulted, with several attempts thwarted by the determined home side, that final decisive move went begging and the final score of 16 points to 5 was greeted with much relief from a Fishguard side who had clearly given everything!