Fixture

It was a proper cup game at the Glebelands as the Young Saints welcomed Croesyceiliog in their first ever Dragons cup game. The winners of this game would progress into the quarter finals of the cup, with the losers entering the plate competition, and the players really rose to the occasion, delivering a complete performance which left coaches and parents alike beaming from ear to ear - despite Croesyceiliog progressing following a 12 all draw as they were the away team.

From the start of the day, it was clear that the players were focussed and motivated for the game. The warm up had an edge to it and this edginess was carried into the game as the Young Saints took control early on, pinning the Cockerels back in their own half with some hard carrying. In addition to this, the Saints defence, at times this year a weakness, was exceptional. Time and time again a player in a green and red jersey chopped down his opposite man, and not one Saints player missed a one on one tackle. This pressure eventually told when , following a couple of quick phases, the ball was spread wide and two perfectly executed draw an passes by Liam Luckett and Kane Grosvenoir put speedster Mitchell Watkins over for the first try of the game. Liam Luckett extended the Saints lead, burrowing over from close range which became a 30 metre run with a chip and catch by the end of the day.

The first half continued to be evenly contested, but it was Croesy who struck next, driving over from close range to bring the scores level at half time.

The second half was a similar tale, with Saint Julians dominating the first part of it, and Croesy coming back at the end. Saint Julians began to fall foul of the referee and were continually penalised at the breakdown, making it difficult to get out of their own half. Emotions had simmered throughout the game, with neither set of players taking a backwards step, but tempers flared towards the end of the second half which resulted in the sin binning of Liam Luckett for retaliation.

Down to 14 men and camped in their own half, it was a real backs from the Young Saints and they held out for quite some time until the pressure eventually told and Croesy scored a converted try to equal the scores with little time left to play.

A final attack down the right flank showed promise but eventually fizzled out with a turnover before the referee blew his whistle to put Saints into the plate competition.

Final Score

Saint Julians RFC 12-12 Croesyceiliog RFC (Croesy advance due to being away side)   

Try Scorers

Watkins, Luckett

Man of the Match

Liam Luckett