U16s Match Reports 0809

8th April '09

Colwyn Bay 22 Downingtown 22

It was the honour of the Colwyn Bay U16’s to welcome a US based rugby team for the first time in the clubs history. The Downingtown RFC team arrived as a very unknown quantity. Style of play, size, ability were just some of the unknowns to the young Seahorses but the hosts took to the field with the coaches words ringing in their ears,

“ These lads haven’t travelled all the way from Philadelphia just to take part. To beat a team from Wales would be a massive scalp for them. They’ll have come hear to win.”

So respect was the order of the day & with that in mind the boys from the Bay started the game with endeavour & took the game to the tourists with a flowing style of open rugby which allowed all 15 players to get their hands on the ball. Set piece ball from the forwards was good quality & half backs Liam Eynon & Spencer Lumby supplied plentiful ball for the other backs to do their thing. It was only five minutes into the game when Colwyn Bay’s Tom Roberts scored the first try. The try went unconverted but shortly afterward the score was added to when Mike Winter, guesting from the U15’s, secured a loose ball inside the Downingtown half & went on an arcing run to find a huge gap in the defence. He turned on the gas to take full advantage & scored an excellent try just to the right of the posts to make the conversion a formality for Lumby. The third Bay try came in the 31^st. minute when a short popped ball from Eynon at the base of a ruck changed the direction of play & found prop forward Joe Roberts accelerating into space. A neat bit a foot work & a deft off load found support. Further soft handed interplay ended with the move being finished off nicely by the Bays other prop Aled Hughes. A great way for Aled to sign off in his last game as a member of the Junior Section of the Club.

By now however our much travelled guests were beginning to tire of the one way traffic.

The Downingtown forwards started to have more of an influence on the game. Their backs started to make their tackles tell & Fly Half Max Narewski made sure the team were going forward whenever possible with some useful probing kicks.

Downingtown’s first reward came in the last play of the first period after a strong forward drive lead to Chris Palmeri, the powerful front rower crossing for an unconverted try.

After the restart the Bay found they were facing a wholly different proposition. Buoyed by the Palmeri try & no doubt roused by the half time team talk from coach, Mike Drill & his team, Downingtown came out to play with application & purpose. The forwards were beginning to dominate & at 10 Narewski continued to probe with both the boot & with ball in hand. When the Bay did gain possession & tried to attack the visitors defence was resilient.

On the attack for much of the second half Downingtown scored tries by the strong running No. 8, Conor Bryant, Max Narewski, who also put over 1 conversion, & a second try by Palmeri.

With only twelve minutes of the game remaining the home team had relinquished the lead to the Americans, much to the delight of the numerous & very vocal travelling support. The home team coach & supporters were anxious to say the least as it looked like Downingtown were going to return Stateside with their Welsh Scalp.

However the Bay boys are a determined & tight group themselves & in the 33^rd minute of the second half second row Jay Williams, jumping at the font of the lineout on the Downingtown 22 metre line secured an accurate throw from hooker Dewi Hughes. Williams provided a well timed pass for Liam Eynon & the backs executed a well rehearsed move which saw winger Matt Jones bounce a number of would-be tacklers out of his way to score in the corner. The try went unconverted & the game was balanced at 22 points each. The last few minutes were even more nail-biting but neither side were able to score & both teams were left feeling they done just enough to win but neither side were too disappointed that the honours ended up being shared.

15th March '09

Colwyn Bay U16's Vs West Park St Helens

Colwyn Bay hosted touring side West Park from St Helens. The Bay started off very positive with the rucks and mauls workings well and they took an early lead when West Park were penalised for being off side, Tom Roberts was successful with the long range kick. Jay Williams took the ball from the restart after the penalty and got the Bay going forward again, They extended their lead to six nil when Spencer Lumby standing in at scrum half kicked a penalty when West Park were off side at the ruck again. A miss tackle saw the opposition prop go over for a try which was converted, and having had most of the possesion and territory the Bay were unlucky to be down 6-7 at half time. But in the second half West Park were the better team as they scored two more converted tries. This was a great effort from the boys and Man of the Match was Aled Hughes. Final score in this physical encounter was:

Colwyn Bay 6 West Park 21

8th March '09

Good victory for Bay u16s at Bala

Colwyn Bay u16s travelled to Bala to play in the Eryri cup. The Bay played up hill in the first half in appalling weather conditions and had to defend fiercely against a strong Bala pack. Colwyn Bay No 8 Jamie Williams spoilt a lot of Bala ball and Samuel Ryan tackled relentlessly. Colwyn Bay broke the deadlock midway through the first half when they were awarded a penalty and captain Glyn Griffiths opted for the kick at goal which Tom Roberts slotted over with ease. Five minutes later the Bay extended their lead after a well executed move saw Glyn go over for the try , converted by fly half Spencer Lumby. Bala did score at the end of the half to narrow the gap to 12-5 After the turnaround the conditions were worsening and made handling very difficult. Man of the match Jay Williams put the Bay further in the lead when he scored from a chill ball. Winger Matt Jones finished the scoring with a breakaway try from inside his own 22. Bala did come back strong scoring a couple of tries but Colwyn Bay held on and go through to the next round wining 22-15. Well done lads.

15th February '09

Colwyn Bay U16's 55 v Bro Ffestiniog 20

Colwyn Bay travelled to a struggling Bro Ffestiniog on Sunday. Winger Matt Jones ran in four tries and covering scrum half Adam Garret went over for two tries while Anthony Duttar, Ieuan Jones and Callum Bond all scored one a piece. Second row Ryan Davies kicked one conversion and the rest of the points came from the boot of Tom Roberts who gave a man of the match performance as he kept the bay going forward with some good line breaks and field positioning kicks. Joe Roberts, Aled Hughes, Sam Ryan and David Rushden kindly made up the numbers for Bro and played very well with both Aled and Sam getting on the score sheet for Bro as they made a bit of a comeback in the second half but the Bay held onto their lead with the score ending at 55 points to 20 for Colwyn Bay.

1st February '09

Colwyn Bay got off to a good start in this local derby against Llandudno U16's when full back Adam Garret showed his pace to run in a fine try under the posts. Spencer kicked the conversion. Poor decision making let the Bay down at times and this let Llandudno back into the game and they scored with a pushover try but were unsuccessful with the conversion attempt. Colwyn Bay did play the better rugby in the first half and could have turned the screws on their rivals had they converted their chances into points, but ended up at half time just seven points to five to the good.

Second half was a different story with Llandudno having a lot more possession and territory and kept the play in our twenty-two for long periods of time. but slightly against the run of play the Bay went further ahead through a Tom Roberts try in the corner. Tudno kept their composure through and after relentless pressure they got their rewards when they went over for a score, the conversion attempt was successful and levelled the game at twelve all. this was a very physical encounter and played in good spirit, a fair result. prominent players for the Bay were Dewi Jones, Sam Ryan, Jay Williams and Tom Roberts but man of the match was Glyn Griffith.

18th January '09

Colwyn Bay u16's 42 v 0 Hoylake u16's

Colwyn Bay got off to a good start in their first match of the new year as they ran in eight tries to beat Hoylake 42 nil and with a few key players out, due to injury, it was good to see the likes of Tom Johnson and Ieuan Jones back playing. The conditions were very blustery and the bay took advantage of this in the first half with some good kicking that kept Hoylake pinned back in back in their 22. full-back Ieuan Jones scored the first try early on and Spencer Lumby added the extras. Prop Joe Roberts powered his way over from a short distance for the Bay's second try, but the wind sent Tom Robert's conversion attempt just wide of the upright. winger Matt Jones celebrated his 16th birthday in style with a man of the match performance, going over for four tries. After setting up a few of the tries, with his good lines of running and accurate passing Tom Roberts touched down himself and Samuel Ryan completed the scoring with a fine try at the end. a good performance from all the lads.

21st December '08

The first home game of the season for the U16's was fiercely contested game against a well organised Wrexham team who controlled large parts of the game and went into the second half with a clear lead. Colwyn Bay competed more meaningfully in the second half with the final outcome a 19-19 draw. Colwyn Bay's points came from, tries by front rowers Joe Roberts & Aled Hughes & from the boot of Tom Roberts.

30th November '08

Colwyn Bay mad their way to Mold and suffered their first defeat of the season, to a very well drilled Mold side, in a very close game. The final score, didn't reflect the game, at 22-7 as the Bay competed in all areas of the game and looked very dangerous at all times. Matt Jones scored the Bay's only try, with Tom Roberts kicking the conversion, after a good brake form the backs. Jaime Williams won man-of-the-match for his work effort and solid defence through out the game. Tom Roberts, filling in at ten, Gaz Williams and Adam Garret broke countless tackles and challenged the Mold back-line on every opportunity. Glyn Griffith also put in a great performance, carrying the ball and rucking well. over all a very good performance from both sides providing an enjoyable match for all watching.

23rd November '08

Colwyn Bay U16's 50 v 5 Rhyl U16

Colwyn Bay continued their good run when they ran in eight tries against Rhyl on a very muddy and heavy pitch which made running rugby difficult and with the lashing rain and hail a few handling errors was inevitable. Try scorers for the Bay were Matt Jones 3, Jamie Williams 1, Will Evans 1, Liam Eynion 1 and Gaz Williams 2, with Tom Roberts kicking 5 conversions. Man of the Match was Anthony Duttar who always looked confident taking the ball at the restarts and taking it into contact. Rhyl did get a consolation try in the last minute to bring the final score to 50 - 5.

16th November '08

Colwyn Bay U16's Make It Five Wins From Five Games

Colwyn bay travelled over the Menai Straits to Llangefni to play their latest game after a couple of weeks of frustration due to cancelled games and training sessions. Llangefni were on the back foot straight away due to some powerful play by the bay forwards. and the backs linked up well to spread the ball out wide and winger Matt Jones scored in the corner, Tom Roberts was wide of the mark with the conversion attempt. The Bay's second try came when centre Will Evans broke away and when he was tackled the ball was quickly re-cycled and put through the hands of the backs and Matt Jones touched down under the posts for his second try, Fly-Half Spencer Lumby added the extras. Colwyn Bay continued to dominate and extended their lead just before half time through a Glyn Griffith try. After the turn around it was pretty much the same with the Bay having the upper hand but Llangefni did break through a few times but good defensive work prevented them from scoring. Gaz Williams playing scrum half in the second half, after an injury to Liam towards the end of the first half forced him to leave the field of play, had an outstanding game always driving the bay forward.

Continued pressure from Colwyn Bay forced their opposition to give away a penalty on their ten meter line which Will Evans kicked successfully and then added to his tally when he scored a try late on and this time Spencer Lumby added the two points to bring the final score to 27-0 for Colwyn Bay and Man of The Match was Fullback Tom Roberts. other good performances came from Jack Yates, Jamie Williams, Aled E Hughes, Joe Roberts, Spencer Lumby and Will Evans.

19th October '08

A fine local derby that produced some good rugby from both sides and it took twenty minutes for Colwyn Bay to break the dead lock through a Matt Jones try. Will Evans put the ball just wide of the upright with his conversion attempt. The score remained 5 nil at half time. Llandudno did reply early on in the second half when they were awarded a scrum on the bay's five metre line and an error at the back of the scrum allowed Llandudno to pick up the loose ball and go over for a score which was converted. But Colwyn Bay dominated for long spells in this game and Will Evans put Colwyn Bay back in the lead after some fine interplay with Dan Parry 13 mins into the half, fly-half Spencer Lumby missed the conversion. Will extended the lead with a try 12 mins from time, Llandudno did get a controversial last minute try which was converted but Colwyn Bay held on to win 15-14 to make it four wins in four games.

12th October '08

Colwyn Bay Make it three wins out of three when they beat Wrexham on their home turf 23- nil with tries from Rhodri Lloyd, Ieuan Jones, Matt Jones and Captain Gaz Williams and Tom Roberts kicked a penalty. This was a much improved performance all round with some powerful play up front setting a good platform for the backs to work from and they were able to play an expansive game stretching the Wrexham defence to run in four tries.

28th September '08

Colwyn Bay u16's v Bangor u16's

The teams were quite evenly matched in this encounter with not a lot in it. Colwyn Bay had the chance to take the lead on ten minutes when they were awarded a penalty but they opted to kick for touch. wing Tom Roberts eventually broke the deadlock on 17Min's when he touched down near the corner flag but his conversion effort went slightly wide of the left upright. Joe Chaplin, back in his usual fullback slot had a good game tackling well and good on the counter. Colwyn's second try came when Tom Roberts got under a high ball, took it in a drew the defender and put will Evans (fly-half) into space and his pace did the rest, a good display of support work and a fine finish. again Tom Roberts was just short of the conversion attampt form the touchline. with the score 10 Nil at turnaround, this should of been extended five Min's into the second half but a good attack came to an end in opposition 22 when the ball was knocked-on and soon the bay found themselves defending on their own goal line and good defensive work kept Bangor at bay this time but it was only a matter of time before Bangor got their rewards for some good pressure when their No.8 ploughed through to score. Colwyn Bay replied when Will Evans stole a good ball in his own 22 and had the legs to go all the way and put it down under the posts and he slotted the ball over for the extras. Rhodri Lloyd was outstanding and got the Man Of The Match award and front rowers Glyn, Dewi and Anthony serrakh were impressive. Dan Parry came on in the second half and put in a find display. final score was -Colwyn Bay 17 Bangor 5

14th September '08

Colwyn Bay U 16’s travelled to Hoylake on Sunday for their first game of the season after last weeks encounter with Mold fell foul to the recent inclement weather. With some players unavailable due to North Wales duty and other commitments Colwyn Bay found themselves struggling for numbers in the backs. This was a bit of a scrappy start with no real commitment at the breakdown, we got pushed off our own ball too many times but our line-outs were pretty good and it was off a line-out that the Bay got their first try, when Glyn Griffith tidied up a loose ball off the deck and went on a rampaging run, well supported by Ben Steward which then went through the hands of the backs and Matt Jones scored in the corner. Fly half Spencer Lumby was unsuccessful with the touchline conversion attempt and the score at half time was 5-0 to the Bay. In the second half there was a bit more structure to our game but it was difficult to get any fluidity going because the referee was always stopping the game for what seemed very petty things. Spencer and Tom Johnson pulled off a great pivot move and had Matt managed to hold on to it he would have been in for his second try. But continuous pressure from the Bay eventually saw captain Glyn Griffith go over to score and Spencer added the extras, later he put this game to bed when he kicked a 38m penalty with ease.

Man of the Match was Matt Jones for his efforts both in attack and defence. Samuel Ryan also had a good game and debutants Dewi (hooker) and Ieuan (fullback) fitted in very well.

Final score Colwyn Bay 15 Hoylake 0