News

 Cwmcarn received a warm welcome in the hillside when we travelled to Forgeside - Well one out of three ain't bad...It was definitely on a hill.

We could have been forgiven for thinking that we were in for easy afternoon's work, looking at the shape of some the Forgeside forwards. They certainly like their carbohydrates. The afternoon was to show that looks can be deceiving.

Forgeside chose to use the slope & wind to their advantage in the first half & were 28-0 up in less than 20 minutes; scoring four tries & converting them all. The game was pretty much over as a contest & it became a case of salvaging some pride. As has been the case for much of the season, tackling was at a premium & tackling around the legs even more so.

Cwmcarn were shoved backwards at the scrum & beaten at the breakdown. This meant Forgeside had all the go-forward ball & Carn were living off scraps. Forgeside were surprisingly well drilled & strong. Having said that, Carn showed that away from home & short of a few of their best players, they travel as well as a bottle of Blue Nun. Switching on from the first kick-off will definitely help improve the win/loss ratio.

By half-time, Carn were down 40-0, but there were some signs of improvement & commitment & with the strong slope & wind advantage, we were hopeful of closing the gap significantly in the second half.

Cwmcarn had some go forward ball at the beginning of the second half & were rattling Forgeside for the first time. Unfortunately, Carn were unable to convert the pressure to points. Forgeside weathered the storm with some good offloads soon scored themselves. To Carn's credit, they did not allow their heads to go down & continued to press forward & fling the ball around.

The scrums improved & although the tackling left a lot to be desired, Carn were able to cause some disruption to Forgeside's offload game. With the game swinging to & fro, Cwmcarm scored a good try of their own after some sustained pressure. With momentum with them & some self belief, Carn were hopeful of a few more scores. Forgeside had their own ideas & made some substitutions. With fresh legs & renewed determination, they quickly got their offload game going again & scored a few late tries, that gave the scoreline a look that was not a true reflection of the second half efforts.

On the plus side, Tom Simmonds looked very fetching in his 28 inch waist shorts, pulled just above navel & his pink boots (If you ask him nicely, he may tell you why he wore them).

There was a feeling that this was Cwmcarn's nadir (low point, for those unfamiliar with the word) & a steely determination to make our coaches smile. Andy is beginning to look more like Steve Hansen with every match.

STAND-OUT PLAYER(S): Christopher Bartlett- Legge...He has been Cwmcarn's Mr Consistent & can teach the rest of us the art of tackling